A Force to Be Reckoned With
by Mousebird
Summary: Sanzo and company discover that being caught between technology and youkai magic is an unenviable position, and Gojyo discovers that the one thing he really can't stand is Sanzo. Slightly AU and eventual Sanzo x Gojyo.
1. Chapter 1

It was the tail end of a long and sticky day for the Sanzo ikkou, and they were thoroughly sick of camping out. Goku had eaten the last of the supplies the night before, and had been complaining from the back seat every hour or so that he was going to die of starvation. Hakkai's false smile had become more and more pronounced as the day had progressed.

The rocky terrain was no longer even a rough approximation of smooth, so they had been forced to proceed at a snail's pace through bumpy, cracked stretches of ground, flanked on either side by the imposing walls of the ravine. The remains of recent avalanches had meant that, twice, they'd had to clamber reluctantly out of the jeep and scrabble over mounds of sharp, dusty, unstable rocks. Sanzo had slipped once, and now sported a rather large purple bruise on his right shin, which didn't improve his temper at all.

Even Gojyo, the indefatigable red-haired water sprite looked wilted. His normally perky bangs hung limp on either side of his face and clung to his face and neck. The rest of his hair was tied firmly back in a ponytail, and his tank top was plastered to his chest in damp splotches.

Unfortunately, their day was not getting any better. Directly in front of them, a looming forest brooded darkly. Gojyo picked his teeth with a toothpick he'd stuck in his jeans pocket, a dim reminder of their last trip to a restaurant. After one long stare at the forest ahead of him, he let his head fall with a dull thunk against the back of the jeep and sighed.

Goku eyed the toothpick narrowly, trying to determine whether it might not indicate that Gojyo had food squirreled away somewhere.

Hakkai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smiled his fake smile, eyes closed. "Sumimasen, Sanzo, shall we make camp then?"

Sanzo's arms were crossed tightly over his chest, concealing his scraped and bruised knuckles. "Absolutely not. We've wasted enough time as it is. I refuse to spend another night with my legs smashed up against the dashboard. And I've had just about enough of the stench of fermenting kappa behind me."

"Oi!" Gojyo called out warningly, his head lifting off the back of the jeep and one hand scratching an itching armpit. "At least I don't snore like the monkey or shoot at people when they leave to pee in the middle of the night."

"I'm huuuungry," Goku whined, then he glared at Gojyo. "And I'm not a monkey, perverted water sprite."

Hakkai, sensing the current downward spiral the conversation was taking, intervened. "The trees are too dense for Hakuryu, I'm afraid. We'll have to walk."

Sanzo nodded his head slightly, accepting the inevitable. "What does the map say?"

The map rustled as Hakkai drew it out of the black, and therefore scorching hot, glove compartment. Gojyo and Goku's argument had degenerated, once again, into a physical struggle. "Ahhh, it appears that this forest is not on the map, Sanzo-sama," Hakkai explained apologetically. He gestured as if to hand the map to Sanzo, but the priest turned around to thump a thrashing Goku, whose dusty shoe had connected with the back of Sanzo's head, over the head with his harisen instead.

"Baka saru!" Sanzo hissed, on his feet and chest heaving in irritation.

Gojyo, sprawled awkwardly in the back seat with his legs braced against the front seats for leverage, smirked triumphantly at the instantly contrite Goku. Seconds later, the harisen landed across Gojyo's nose.

"At-cha-cha!" Gojyo mourned as his hands curled protectively over his reddening nose. "What the hell!?! That _hurt,_ you impotent priest!" He scowled fiercely at the towering figure in (slightly smudged) white, who was glaring right back at him. "What's with treating me like the saru, anyway? Don't I at least rate the pea shooter?"

Before Sanzo could decide whether Goku and Hakkai would really mind leaving the useless kappa's corpse out in the sun to dry up, a loud crack rang out, clear as a bell, from the confines of the dense forest in front of them. Startled, Sanzo stiffened, and, slightly unbalanced from leaning toward the back of the jeep to tower over the annoying kappa, Sanzo fell forward, once again banging his shin as he fell on top of the two idiots in the back seat. "Well, that's torn the last of my shredded dignity," he thought irritably as his face mashed up against a well-muscled, stiff, and sweaty shoulder. The smell was overpowering.

Gojyo froze for a second too, caught between the shock of what sounded very much like a gunshot and discovering that he now had an irate priest draped across him. As his mind tried desperately to make sense of the situation, his body couldn't help tingling a bit at the feeling of a firm, warm weight resting against his body. The proximity of all that silken blond hair right under his nose didn't help either. He had an irrational urge to sniff it. It would probably just smell like sweat and dust, though. Damn. It had definitely been too long since Gojyo had last had a woman.

Silence reigned for a heartbeat, then two, as Sanzo's heart raced and his ears strained for some form of explanation. Three more shots rang out in quick succession. "Tha-that wasn't you, was it, Sanzo?" Goku asked, stunned, voice muffled by the priest robes draped over his face. When Sanzo, still lost in thought as he tried to gage the location from which the shots had originated, didn't immediately respond, Goku asked again, "Sanzo?"

"Oi! Sanzo, get it together." Gojyo shoved at the blond's shoulder and squirmed a bit. "Not that I'm not flattered and all, but ..." That definitely got Sanzo's attention. The priest rolled awkwardly out of the back seat, elbow casually crashing into Gojyo's gut, and landed on the ground behind the jeep, his face a bit flushed but his eyes narrowed and focused. Gojyo coughed and wrapped his arms around his throbbing stomach. Damn. The pissy priest really was in a rotten mood today.

"Of course that wasn't me, baka. _My_ 'peashooter' is fully loaded." Sanzo's tone was brisk, his hand sliding his Smith & Wesson out of the inner recesses of his robe and checking to make sure it was actually present and fully loaded. His eyes flicked toward the wincing redhead in the back seat.

"Then who the hell _was_ that?" Gojyo gasped, eyes watering, as he slid out of the jeep, well away from the fully armed and dangerous blond.

"Yeah, and what're they doin' with a gun, anyway!?" Goku demanded, incensed that anyone would dare encroach on Sanzo-sama's rightful territory.

Hakkai climbed out of the jeep and tapped its hood gently. Hakuryu transformed into his dragon form and kyuued plaintively before settling on his master's shoulder. "Why don't we go ask them?" Hakkai's brow was furrowed, and he was staring at the trees ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter is short, and is mostly setup. Sanzo and company will return in Chapter 3, which will, hopefully, be out sometime next week.

* * *

"The traps are set, _sir!_" The young soldier snapped to attention smartly, and bowed, waiting for further orders. It had been three weeks since they'd been sent to this god-forsaken border outpost, and the men were moody. Protecting a mining town, regardless of its military value, seemed more like exile than a promotion for the empire's elite troops. However, raids on the borders were becoming more and more frequent, so it was crucial that the empire's supply of high-quality iron ore, used to manufacture the guns and ammunition needed to beat back the demonic attacks, not be interrupted.

It felt ironic, somehow, that, until very recently, youkai had seemed more creatures of myth and fantasy than anything else, the product of the superstitious mumblings of natives who lived beyond the borders of the emperor's enlightened domain. The empire was based on the pillars of science and common sense, but here, on the edge of nowhere, magic seemed terrifyingly real and inexplicable. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"Very well, Lieutenant Li. Any sign of the enemy?" Captain Tenjo's eyes flashed with fierce determination. They'd already lost ten of their soldiers to these beasts, and he was determined that they would lose no more. It was clear that they could not afford to underestimate these "youkai."

"No, sir." Li's fists clenched, and her red hair caught stray flickers of light from the makeshift torches in the dull green, military-issue tent. She'd almost hoped to run into them, too, especially after examining Honshu's remains the night before. Whatever poison the bastards had used had left very little behind for the official burial ceremony.

"Very well. Lead squadron number three to the mouth of the cave and set up your defenses there. Standard equipment will be issued at the armory at 1900 hours." It really was frustrating how little of their precious technology seemed to work here in the barbaric backwoods of this hell-hole, but a good soldier adapted. Batteries and generators were among the first of their supplies that were discovered to be useless. It seemed that anything that was strictly mechanical or explosive in nature still worked in a reassuringly reliable way. Tenjo's elbow pressed subconsciously against the cool butt of his sidearm, strapped into his utility belt. Medications also appeared to be effective, but the medics complained that lack of refrigeration and appropriate lighting made improvisation difficult.

"Understood!" Li saluted sharply and ducked out of the flap of the tent. Tenjo collapsed back into his folding camp chair and stared at the stone-cold mass of congealing, slightly burnt baked beans. Dinner. Shu had been a damned good chef, and resourceful. He'd be missed. Firm, rock-steady fingers grasped the spoon with determination and shoved a mouthful of mush into his mouth. He chewed determinedly. It was like the beasts were testing them, playing a vicious game of cat-and-mouse. "I'm not a mouse, and neither are my men," Tenjo thought fiercely, jabbing at the tin plate again and scooping up more of the beige mess. "We're rats. With teeth." He bared his teeth in a grim smile.


	3. Chapter 3

"Aaawwwww, man!" Gojyo complained as his boot once again slid out of sight as it was sucked into thigh-deep, swampy mud. "I bet there're leeches in here." He blew irritably at the bangs that were now hanging in his face. "An why'm I the one carrying the kid?"

Goku frowned and twisted his head around to look Gojyo in the eye. "You better not drop me, you filthy kappa. 'Sides, isn't this your natural habitat?"

A vein throbbed on Gojyo's head. "Yeah? Ya think, monkey? Then how come you're not swingin' from the branches, eh? I'm not a tree, ya know." Gojyo's fingers flew up to flip Goku the bird. Squish. His next step caused him to sink deeper, and he wobbled a bit as Goku rearranged himself. "Gah! And this shit stinks too! Maaaan! I want hazard pay!" He paused for a moment and then slogged off to the side where he fervently hoped the ground was firmer.

Hakkai and Sanzo were up ahead, murmuring quietly and weaving their way past tufted clumps of grass and piles of dead leaves. Miraculously, they seemed relatively unscathed by the swampy terrain. Of course, they also weren't burdened with extra weight. Every step Gojyo took seemed to pull him deeper. He shrugged his shoulders and twisted in discomfort, trying to rearrange the uneven bony weight at his back.

"Neee, can't we eat soon? I'm reeeal hungry," Goku whined. Gojyo glanced up, his eyes skimming past the disappearing figures ahead of them and fixing on the pitiful look in the large, round brown eyes hanging over his shoulder.

"Oi! We're stopping for a bit," Gojyo called out. There was no response. Gojyo sighed and shifted his weight again, leaning his arm up against a tree for balance. With his other hand, he dug into a deep pocket in the back of his jeans and pulled out a slim, mashed pack of chewing gum. Waving it up behind his head, he grumbled, "Here. Can't stand the stuff anyway. Just gets stuck in my teeth." Hakkai should have known that gum couldn't possibly replace cigs anyway. He wondered idly whether Sanzo had been given a matching packet.

"Che! I knew you had food." Goku eyed him beadily, but readily seized upon the offering and quickly popped it in his mouth. While Goku chewed on the gum contentedly, Gojyo fished out and lit a cigarette, then stared at his ruined trousers. The brambles earlier had torn a rather large hole in the knee of one leg. Good clothes were hard to replace on the road, and how the hell was he supposed to impress the ladies if he looked like a raggedy baggy peddler.

Traveling with three other guys didn't help things either. It wasn't like they were competition, really. Goku was too childish, at least outwardly, to attract more than a maternal response from most chicks. Hakkai was still too tied up in twisted, guilty knots over Kannan to really show an interest in anyone else, except maybe that warrior chick with the two ponytails. Gojyo cocked his head to the side and closed his eyes. It pained him to watch his friend beat himself up over the past. The guy needed to let go. And Sanzo, well, Sanzo was just an irritating bastard who only seemed to attract obsessive, male psychopaths.

As he finished his cigarette, Gojyo flexed his shoulders again and prepared to move on. But, as he glanced up, he realized that he couldn't see or hear any trace of Hakkai or even the blasted priest in his flowing white robes. Squinting a bit, Gojyo thought, "Was it foggy before?" He leaned forward a bit to get a better look at the ground that was still visible; the swampy mud and sporadic undergrowth remained uncommunicative. He listened carefully, but the heavy weight of the fog muffled any indication of movement. They couldn't have gotten that far ahead.

* * *

Hakkai cast a considering gaze over his shoulder at the struggling figure behind them. "Do you ever envy them, Sanzo?" he asked, his artificial smile slipping somewhat.

Sanzo grunted. "What, the kappa and the saru? Those two idiots?"

"Mmm," Hakkai confirmed neutrally. "They seem so relaxed somehow."

"Ignorance is bliss," Sanzo grunted, but he glanced over his shoulder. The redhead was sliding again in a rough approximation of the splits before he managed to slam into a tree trunk. The monkey looked like he was trying to eat the water sprite's empty red head. They were irritating, but he knew what Hakkai meant. They only seemed to worry about their immediate concerns: the next available warm meal and a dry place to sleep. It must be convenient to have such a simple world view.

"They're so comfortable with each other, too," Hakkai observed, frowning a bit in concentration as he hopped from one protruding tree root to another.

"Mmmm," Sanzo's eyes narrowed and he shot Hakkai a sharp glance. Hakkai sounded so wistful. It just didn't make sense. It wasn't like Hakkai didn't have Gojyo keeping an eye out for him. Sanzo briefly regretted wearing sandals and copied Hakkai's movements.

A rustling behind them caused both men to freeze in their tracks. Sanzo's gun was out and pointing unerringly into the face of the intruder ... who was definitely not Gojyo. Hakkai's hands, which had cupped automatically to gather his chi, fell somewhat, and a frown creased his forehead. "Yaone-san, you startled us. What are you doing here?"

Sanzo growled a bit and didn't lower his gun. "Are you alone?" His eyes flicked left and right, searching for signs of that blasted Kougaiji and his other lackeys.

"Maaaa ..." The warrior temporized, holding up her empty hands and smiling so broadly that her eyes almost closed. "I'm just here to talk to Hakkai-san for a bit."

When Sanzo's eyes narrowed and his head tilted a bit, as if trying to detect a lie, the healer moved closer to Hakkai, sidestepping the suspicious priest and his gun, which was carefully tracking her movements.

"Is that okay?" she asked a startled Hakkai, whose hands had fallen limply at his sides.

"Of course, Yaone-san," Hakkai replied, then, when the figure before him remained silent, he turned to Sanzo. "Could you see what's taking them so long, Sanzo? It'll only take a minute."

The priest turned a bit and looked back the way they'd come. "Unbelievable. They probably found something that looked edible."

He turned back to Hakkai. "Don't be long. I want to get the hell out of here before night falls." Then he turned with a swish of his robes and slogged off back through the trees.

Yaone smiled again, and started walking forward. Hakkai followed her. "What is this all about, Yaone-san?" Hakkai asked, his face serious. "Are you in trouble?"

"It's about Dr. Ni," she confided quietly, her eyes fixed on the movements of her lower body as they navigated the swamp.

"Dr. who?" Hakkai asked, trying not to notice the curves of the woman in front of him.

"Dr. Ni. I don't trust him. I think he's up to something. He's a scientist who works for Kougaiji-sama's step-mother."

"Have you talked to Kougaiji?" Hakkai asked, failing to see how he fit into all of this. He was irrationally pleased, though, that Yaone-san would come to him when she was worried.

They reached the jagged mouth of a cave. Yaone ducked through the entrance and into the pitch-black space beyond. Hakkai paused briefly before following her inside. For a moment there, he'd gotten the strangest feeling that she had been leading him here all along.

As soon as he stepped into the relative blackness of the cave, his muscles tensed. Something was not right. He couldn't sense Yaone's presence in front of him anymore. Uncertain, he paused, straightened up, and called out softly, "Yaone-san? Are you there?"

He heard something drop lightly behind him, and whirled around, chi ball half-formed, only to feel the sharp prickle of long, thin blades piercing his shoulder. In the confused seconds that followed, Hakkai felt the claws retract, let loose his ball of chi, and heard it make contact as shards of rock shattered all around him. He staggered against the cave wall and squinted desperately, wishing fervently for peripheral vision. He was starting to feel woozy, and he doubted it was loss of blood, though his shirt was beginning to feel distinctly damp. In all likelihood, the claws had been poisoned.

Though his head was starting to throb, and his vision was blurring, he could still make out a vague shape advancing relentlessly toward him. It looked distressingly familiar. Hakkai rolled onto his side, favoring his uninjured shoulder.

"Think, think, think," he thought fiercely. He conjured up a flickering barrier, and tried to focus. The exit was blocked. Where was Yaone? The exit was blocked, and Hakkai had no idea what lay in wait farther inside the cave. He wanted out.

The barrier snapped and hissed as claws scraped across it. Hakkai blinked fiercely, fighting the loss of consciousness. Where was Yaone? Was she already injured? But she had entered the cave right before ...

His barrier flashed, shimmered, and went out. Hakkai threw himself across the cave to the opposite wall and fired off another chi blast, aiming in the direction of the cave's mouth. If he could get his attacker to leave the cave or the cave's entrance, he had a chance of getting out. Right now, is mind couldn't focus on anything more complex. He wanted out, and he wanted to know where Yaone-san was.

For some reason, there was a loud rumbling sound in his ears. He could hear sliding and groaning sounds all around him, but he couldn't see a thing. When had he closed his eyes? He couldn't feel his left shoulder, but the rumbling seemed more ominous. A sharp, heavy weight landed heavily on his leg, pinning him in place. Desperately, with the last of his strength, Hakkai conjured a barrier. "Run, Yaone-san!" he managed to call out before losing consciousness. Not good. He was sure he hadn't been loud enough to be heard over the roaring in his ears.


	4. Chapter 4

Yaone felt an insistent but detached sense of urgency. She knew intellectually that she should be doing something, but, for the life of her, she couldn't quite remember what it was or why it was important. Muzzily, she tried to focus, but her thoughts were nebulous and evaporated as soon as she tried to grasp at them.

This went on for a while, and then there was a gap during which she couldn't be sure whether she was conscious. Images floated before her: tubing and glass and the dull glow of a monitor screen. It was maddening that she couldn't connect the scenes or supply any sounds. Everything seemed so terribly muffled, as if she were under water. Water. "Am I drowning!?" she thought in panic and tried desperately to move, to breathe, to see.

At last, her sluggish eyes opened a crack, and she watched a stream of bubbles drift lazily upward ... "from my mouth," she thought. Stiffening and straining with all her might against the lethargy that fought to restrain her, she managed to force her eyes open all the way. Consciousness rushed to the surface along with the beginnings of a truly painful headache.

The space in front of her face shimmered and rocked gently. So she was underwater. But no, the liquid had a strange hue, an almost greenish tinge, and, after a panicked but focused analysis, she realized that her lungs weren't straining for air either.

Her vision was still blurred, so she couldn't make out much else. There seemed to be a couple of dark, blurred shapes in front of her, but they could simply have been afterimages left over from her semiconscious state.

Her ears were filled with liquid, and the pressure difference made them ache. She could just barely hear something, though. It sounded like one of the figures might be talking. She leaned forward to hear better and felt her nose bump against a cool, clear, hard surface. Glass.

Carefully, cautiously, she pressed her ear against the glass and closed her watering eyes. Maybe the voices would know what she needed to do.

"... killing two birds with one stone ... No, not yet. ... chance to analyze ... effectiveness ... unstable ..." It was maddening the way she could only catch snatches of what was being said. It sounded important, but she couldn't focus long enough to decipher it.

Her head was throbbing more insistently now, and she rather thought she was going to black out again. In a last effort to make sense of her situation, Yaone forced her eyes fully open one last time. The world in front of her sharpened into focus briefly, then went dark as her eyes closed against her will. Her mind whirled as it slowly shut down again. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Dokugakuji-dono? Why was he here?

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sanzo frowned in irritation. At this rate, there was no way they'd make it out of the forest before nightfall. They'd have to camp in Jeep again, and they'd probably need to sleep in rotation as well because it was clear that they had company somewhere in the woods, and that company possessed firearms. And now, to add insult to injury, he had to go and fetch the wayward members of the group.

Before he'd traveled more than twenty yards, though, a sudden, and therefore suspicious, heavy white fog materialized. Sanzo drew his gun and backed up against the nearest tree, his eyes narrowed.

"Who's there!?" he demanded, swiveling his head in search of any sign of an opponent. The blasted youkai could at least show themselves. Damn, but he hated dealing with enemies who could pull magic out of their asses. It seemed singularly unfair.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Goku vaulted effortlessly onto Gojyo's shoulders and then into a low-hanging branch of a tree. "We have company," he stated with an edge of growing excitement as he conjured his nyoi-bou.

"Tell someone who doesn't know," Gojyo responded as his shakujou shimmered into solidity in his hand. A grim smile stretched across his face. "Oi! Come on out, you losers, so we can get on with this," he called, testing his balance now that Goku was no longer hampering his movements.

Dark shapes slowly materialized around them, and Gojyo's grin widened. Gyumaoh's assassins weren't terribly bright. As he darted forward and slashed the menacing clump of three youkai on his right, the back of his mind warned him that there was at least one fairly powerful youkai nearby because these losers couldn't conjure a fog like that on their own.

Goku leapt from the tree and skewered two more with his nyoi-bou. He couldn't see all of the youkai because the fog shrouded them, but he knew they were there and that he and Gojyo were surrounded. Next to eating, and the extremely rare occasions when Sanzo spoke to him without scolding him, Goku loved fighting. It made him feel alive. But these youkai were not powerful enough to challenge him individually, so it would take a while to beat his way past them, and he was starving, dammit.

Gojyo had already cleared the space around him, and there were no visible youkai left standing on the ground, but Goku could tell they were simply gathering for a second assault. He scanned the trees, where he had mostly remained during the first charge, and noticed, through a small clear patch in the fog, two youkai gesturing toward Gojyo and then to each other, their mouths full of knives.

Goku sprang lightly from his perch toward them. "Look out, ero kappa!" he called over his shoulder. The two youkai heard him, hastily tossed the knives they had his way, and beat a hasty retreat.

"Oi! You dammed monkey! Watch what you're doing!" Gojyo called as one of the deflected knives grazed his upturned elbow. The yells of the youkai Goku was pursuing had alerted the others, and his arms were otherwise occupied in a shoving match with a youkai that had crept around the tree Gojyo was using as cover.

Gojyo shoved the sneaky bastard away from him, and then released his shakujou, which snaked through the air in a deadly arc and reduced their number of opponents by one more. What kind of enemy sneaked up behind his opponent? "Fucking coward," Gojyo muttered angrily. Yanking irritably on the chain, Gojyo spun around again to face the hoard of youkai spilling out of the mist.

"Come on, bring it, you bastards!" he yelled as his shakujou swung out and retracted again and again in a deadly dance. Damn, but this was tiring, and vaguely disturbing too. Dodging attacks from all sides now, Gojyo was forced to give ground as he slipped and slid through the muck all around them. It resembled a mosh pit free-for-all more than a choreographed battle, especially with the way that Gojyo had to dodge bodies on the ground along with everything else.

One particularly large and mean sonuvabitch had managed to shove Gojyo up against a tree, having breached Gojyo's personal space by mimicking yet another downed body and then springing up when Gojyo's back was turned. Now Gojyo could only see the bark of the tree in front of him, and his chest was throbbing from having the pole of his shakujou slammed so forcefully against it.

"Bastard," he managed to groan as he shoved backward, using his weapon for leverage. He managed to move a couple of inches away from the tree, only to slam back against it as the youkai shoved back, hard. His mind was flying fast and furious, trying to calculate a way out of this. he was lucky he wasn't dead yet, but, with his weapon pinned against him, his options were limited. He could hear the other youkai closing in. Dammit, where was the blasted monkey at a time like this? Wasn't he supposed to be watching Gojyo's back?

"I barely know you, yanno," he continued, in an attempt to garner a response, "and this really isn't my thing."

Gojyo felt one of his opponent's meaty hands leave his back, to strike him, probably, and then he pushed against the tree trunk with all his might and pivoted out of reach of the swinging fist. The large, red-faced youkai looked very pissed off, and he was growling dangerously as he lunged for the panting water sprite.

"Damn, you're persistent," Gojyo gasped as he leapt backward and swung his shakujou around. "Can't take no for an answer?" he taunted as the sharp edge of his crescent-shaped weapon hit home and stopped the behemoth in its tracks. The heavy schluck sound of the weapon retracting was quickly followed by the angry hiss of youkai voices all around him.

"Dammit, there are _more_ of you!?!" he growled, and looked for a tree to back up against. He didn't much fancy leaving his back exposed again, not after that. The closest tree was behind him, so Gojyo backed up slowly, his eyes flicking left and right to be sure he didn't trip over any bodies. The angry glowing eyes and pointed ears were everywhere and closing in fast despite the churned up and slick mud that surrounded them. At least the mist was clearing up somewhat, not that he really wanted to see their ugly mugs any better.

Gojyo felt his boots sink farther into the mud behind him as he took the last step. CRUNCH. As merciless metal jaws snapped into place, the water sprite cried out in surprise and pain. His leg felt like it was on fire, and he collapsed in a heap, clutching his weapon desperately. "What ... the hell!?!" he thought distractedly as he felt a warm flood of liquid gush down his leg.

Coordinated gunshots rang out, and the nearest youkai fled screaming as their comrades fell. They knew, from bitter experience, what this meant.


	5. Chapter 5

When there had been no response for ten minutes, Sanzo set out irritably into the heavy white mist, pistol cold and clammy in the tight grip of his left hand. He was half tempted to leave all the idiots behind, but, the last time he'd tried to leave one of them behind, it had only caused more delays. And what the hell was taking Hakkai so long? Without the jeep, none of them would be traveling anywhere fast.

As Sanzo made his reluctant way back through the slime and muck, he kept his ears pricked for any sign of movement. The fog rendered the forest singularly unresponsive, though, smothering the senses and obscuring its secrets from interlopers. His robes now felt damp and heavy, so oppressive was the air around him, and the hem of his robes was caked with mud and slime. To top it off, he was nearly sure that bunch of scraggly weeds looked familiar.

"Dammit!" Sanzo growled, and crouched, leaning back against a tree. His sandals slid out of sight into the ooze at the base of the tree. They were filthy already. It hardly mattered now. "Those bastards are really going to pay for this," Sanzo thought, "Gojyo most of all," because Sanzo was sure the water sprite was somehow responsible for all this.

As Sanzo was fumbling with his lighter, attempting to coax a slow, relaxing burn from the squashed and damp cigarette hanging from his lips, he heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots off to his right. Growling, Sanzo shoved his precious cigarette and his lighter back into his jeans pocket and retrieved his pistol from the robes gathered in his lap.

Provoked by this latest demonstration that the gods lived to harass him, Sanzo stood abruptly and slogged through the mud toward the gunshots, which were less coordinated now, but were still ringing out, sharp and unrelenting. As Sanzo drew nearer the source of the gunfire, the heavy mist started to dissipate, parting slowly at first and then rather quickly, leaving behind only a few low-lying wisps wrapping around the bases of the larger trees.

This was rather fortunate because it helped the irate priest avoid tripping over the youkai corpses scattered around like shells on a beach. As Sanzo continued moving forward, an increasing number of them appeared to have lacerations and thick, rope-like bruises. "The water sprite's calling card," Sanzo thought absently, picking up his pace.

A trail of shockingly blood-red hair caught his eye, and he turned toward it. After another couple of squishy, unpleasant steps, Sanzo was towering over the prone, mud-splattered water sprite. The priest glared down at the body before him, and, when he detected the chest slowly rise and fall, he maliciously struck out with his foot, which connected solidly, if rather wetly, with the side of the kappa's head.

"Get up, you bastard! What the hell are you doing lying around here!?" If Sanzo's voice was a bit hoarse, it was just because he was furious at being kept waiting and not because the damn cockroach's right trouser leg was much redder than it should be.

A pained grunt was quickly followed by hands flying up to fend off any further attacks. Scarlet eyes flew open briefly, peered through strands of hair, and then shut tight again. The water sprite winced. "Well, fuck! That hurt, you selfish sonuvabitch." Gojyo attempted to roll over and away from the vindictive priest, but a restraining hand was pressing against his chest.

"Not yet, you useless waste of space," a gravely voice ground out. "You're still anchored." Gojyo tried to pay attention, because it sounded like it might be important, but his vision kept graying at the edges and his leg hurt like hell ... especially when that sadistic bastard kept prodding at it. He twitched and tried to move his leg out of reach. A sharp pain lanced through it, and Gojyo decided that staying put might not be such a bad idea after all.

Sanzo's droopy violet eyes narrowed. He could no longer hear gunshots, but prying the teeth of this trap apart was not going to be easy. It appeared to be spring-loaded: simple, but effective. The trap itself also seemed to be anchored in place with a heavy metal chain, possibly to a tree root. He set his pistol down on the kappa's stomach, for easy access in case the rustling and voices he could hear in the distance turned out to be hostile, and pulled as hard as he could on the two jaws of the trap. They separated by an inch briefly, and then snapped violently back into place. Sanzo winced. That had to hurt.

"Watch what you're doing, you sadistic bastard!!" Gojyo had risen quickly to a sitting position and was gasping for breath. "You tryin' ta kill me?!" Feeling dizzy, the redhead grabbed for something to steady himself. He got a fistful of the back of Sanzo's robes.

Sanzo swiveled his head and glared pointedly at the hand brazenly invading his personal space. A deliberate leer spread across Gojyo's face. He leaned even closer to Sanzo, so that their noses almost touched, and cooed, "Now, isn't this cozy, Sanzo-chan?" He took vindictive pleasure in baiting the unmitigated bastard. The priest was pricklier than any cactus, and the one sure way to get his goat was to tease him.

Of course, it wasn't always worth it, Gojyo reflected regretfully as Sanzo's arm swept out a vicious arc, knocking the water sprite once again flat on his back in the mud. A hand seized a fistful of filthy tank top and fierce purple eyes glared into startled and defiant red ones. "Don't you EVER ..." Sanzo's gravelly voice growled, but he got cut off by the sharp report of a rifle being fired at close range. The mud just to the left of Gojyo's head splashed briefly. Both men froze.

Sanzo's eyes slid toward Gojyo's lap. No pistol. Damn! Fucking water sprite and his juvenile games. Where the hell was it!?

A stern female voice rang out. "You're surrounded. Keep your hands where I can see them and turn around slowly." The ominous clicking of rifles being cocked surrounded them.

Sanzo raised his hands, glaring daggers at Gojyo all the while as he straightened up from his crouch. The rifles pointed at them were rather ridiculously large, in Sanzo's opinion, but they also looked depressingly effective. Turning around to face the leader, a redhead of course, Sanzo ground out, "What the HELL do you want!?" He was furious at being caught unarmed and it was all because he'd tried to retrieve that worthless cockroach. The rifles twitched a bit as the soldiers narrowed their focus to one very irate priest.

From behind him, he heard the mud splash and slosh a bit and then Gojyo's pained but languorously seductive voice say, "Forgive me if I don't get up, sweetheart, but I appear to be stuck."

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

"Mmmm ... fooooood," Goku murmured as his eyelids fluttered open. He was surrounded by mountains of food, and meat was present in every elegantly arranged dish. With a wide grin of anticipation, Goku seized the first roasted leg of meat he could see. He bit into it with relish only to gag unexpectedly on what felt distressingly like a hair. Goku hacked and spat, and then stared in disbelief. The strand of hair was blood red.

Before Goku could really process what this might mean, he heard the sound of familiar voices arguing. Making his way carefully through the piles of food, which Goku now eyed warily, he made his way toward the sound of raised voices. They were on the other side of the wooden wall that lined the four sides of the room. After circling the room ten times, Goku concluded that there was, in fact, no door on any of the walls.

Puzzled and starting to feel frustrated, Goku began to feel that this must be an elaborate prank, and he was being left out somehow. He walked back to the wall where the muffled voices were loudest and pressed his ear up against it. The voices definitely belonged to Sanzo and Gojyo. Goku banged on the wall with his fists and shouted, "Oi! Where's the door!? Oi! It's me, Goku!" There was no answer. Goku pressed his ear to the wall. They were still arguing. Where was Hakkai?

"Sanzo! Sanzo, it's me!" Goku conjured his nyoi-bou, backed up over the piles of food, kicking plates left and right and slipping on sauces, and dashed at the wall with all his might, nyoi-bou extended. It hit the wall with satisfying force, but, just as Goku was starting to feel relieved, he bounced backward instead of charging through to the other side. Landing in the middle of a pile of sushi, Goku frowned and stared at his weapon. It seemed to be in one piece.

The food, however, was starting to smell. And not appetizing. The smell reminded him of Gojyo's disastrous attempts in the kitchen, which invariably ended in the four of them going out to eat and subsequently forcing Gojyo (armed with a kerchief tied around his face) to bury the remains in the backyard.

Goku was starting to feel dizzy and queasy. Yes, this was definitely reminding him of Gojyo's cooking. Goku shook his head and wished he knew where the bathroom was 'cause he really needed to blow chunks now. Disconcertingly, when Goku tried to stand to investigate the walls once more, he noticed that the walls seemed to be much closer than they had before, and his back was throbbing. Worst of all, the tentacles from the nama tako seemed to be growing longer and winding around him. Goku tried to struggle, but that just made them cling tighter. He could feel his breathing being constricted as he took shallower and shallower breaths.

Shaking his head violently, Goku's eyes opened.

It was dark out, but he could feel a breath of wind against his face and insects humming in the background. As his eyes adjusted, Goku could make out a tree across from him. A dream. It had all been a dream. But where was he? And where were the others? Had he just fallen asleep and been left behind?

Goku shook his head again and realized that he still felt dizzy. All the blood was rushing to his head ... because he was hanging upside down. Huh. Gojyo would probably get a laugh out of this, and Sanzo would be pissed that Goku was fooling around.

Determined to catch up to them and get some dinner, Goku's stomach was, of course, growling, he tried to reach out to grab the tree limb and hop down onto the ground again. But his arms were frozen in place at his sides. Goku swung gently in the air as he struggled. Something was definitely not right. Straining to bend his neck, Goku could make out a silvery gray mass surrounding his chest and, by the feel of it, the rest of his body. All he could feel from his neck down was an overwhelming sensation of being struck all over by millions of tiny pins and needles.

Something waved in Goku's peripheral vision. Hoping for an explanation, he swiveled his head around to catch the movement. And froze. Four pairs of long, shiny black legs were pulling a sleek dark body up toward the limb from which Goku was hanging. Eight translucent bubbles protruded from the small head. The monkey had a nasty suspicion that those were eyes. And beneath those gleamed two vicious, curved fangs.

Paralyzed by a mesmerizing and detached sense of fascination, Goku didn't move at all, not even to breathe, as it moved inexorably higher. It suddenly paused and then struck at a cylindrical grayish bundle dangling ten feet away from Goku's watering eyes. He squeezed them shut and tried with all his will to relax, to control his erratic breathing.


	6. Chapter 6

Through sheer force of will, Goku managed to make his tingling muscles relax before he tensed all of them all at once. The stinging, sticky threads clung to him remorselessly, unaffected. Dammit! So much for that idea. They were to tight and too strong for him to be able to burst through from the inside, and he had no room to maneuver. Goku's eyes flew open again and glared in pure righteous anger at the nimble black spider legs as they swiftly and efficiently separated the bundle from its hanging cord and began to lower the sleek dark body back out of sight.

"You bastard!!" Goku yelled at the retreating form. "Put it down!" He struggled again, uselessly, against his bonds. His whole body bobbed and swayed gently. Stomach rebelling, Goku had to swallow several times to suppress the urge to vomit up what little was left in his dizzy and uneasy body.

The spider paused in its descent, and then ascended once more, this time advancing upward at an angle until its massive eyes were level with wide, unfocused golden-brown eyes. Breathing shallowly, Goku concentrated on remembering what he wanted to do next. The world seemed to be spinning a bit, and the objects in his peripheral vision blurred unless he focused on them. There was a vague grayish bundle clutched between the spider's back legs. That seemed important somehow.

Gasping slightly, Goku shut his eyes again, and then squinted blearily at the shape directly in front of him, which no longer consisted of glassy opaque eyes. It now appeared to be the underside of the main body of the spider. Curious. Something seemed disturbingly familiar about the jagged reddish markings on the dark abdomen. Two crescents pointed ominously toward each other, one plunging downward, and the other cutting it off from the right. Kinda like Gojyo's shakujou. His vision dimmed again, and his mind wandered away. "There were two red dots," he thought. They kinda reminded him of Sanzo. ... "SANZO!" Goku gasped, eyes stretched so wide that they stung. What if that bundle ...

Two sharp fangs plunged into Goku's gut, causing him to convulse sharply and then drift off again into wandering, confused dreams in which Sanzo was out of reach and stalking back and forth angrily as Gojyo cheated effortlessly at mahjong.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

Gojyo thought, on balance, things really could be worse. At least his leg wasn't caught between steel jaws anymore, although it still felt alternately numb and tingly in its bindings, and he had managed to rescue Sanzo's pistol, not that it was going to help much right now, stuck in his waistband. He rather felt as if he were being split in half by the priest's bony shoulder as his damp hair swung back and forth at the level of Sanzo's thighs. They were in no position to run, even supposing the soldiers hadn't been armed with military rifles.

Sanzo wasn't saying anything as they sloshed through the mud in the increasingly dark forest. Maybe he had a plan. It was too bad, in a way, that this was the one time that the humans hadn't recognized Sanzo's robes and chakra and offered to help. Of course, they hadn't killed them yet, either, and the chick in charge had looked kind of cute in an aggressive, competent sort of way. Given time, Gojyo was sure he could convince her to loosen up some. After all, she couldn't be nearly as defensive and uptight as the man currently carrying him over his shoulder.

The priest paused again to readjust the limp, and decidedly heavy, body slung over his shoulder. The soldiers around them murmured impatiently, suspiciously scanned the surrounding trees, and shifted their boots in the mud.

"Hurry it up!" one of them barked.

The arm around the backs of Gojyo's thighs tightened. "Carry him yourself, then," Sanzo ground out. "You're the ones who broke his leg."

The red-haired commander strode over to the group. "What's the holdup?"

"They're stalling, sir," one soldier answered, his forehead creased in suspicious anger. "Probably hoping their friends will catch up to us."

The commander's eyes flicked assessingly over the two bedraggled men in front of her. "Keep moving, or you'll be taking up permanent residence here. Understood?" She turned to her men. "Let's move. I want to make camp before 2100."

The commander pivoted made her way to the front again. Sanzo shifted his burden one more time and slogged forward after her. The soldiers returned to their positions and continued forward, flanking their prisoners.

Gojyo shut his eyes again and wondered, for the hundredth time, where the blasted monkey was. It wasn't like him to leave a battle before it was over. Maybe he'd seen Sanzo, but, then, why hadn't he been with the priest? And what was Hakkai doing? They'd never get out of here if they had to spend forever looking for people. Gojyo bit his tongue on his questions and focused on not letting his chin swing too close to Sanzo's ass. It was hard to think much about anything with all the blood rushing to his head. At least the ground seemed to be firmer here; it meant that Gojyo's injured leg was jostled less.

The rest of their journey was spent in relative silence, broken only by the muted noises of insects around them and the occasional muttered exchanges taking place between the soldiers. The first warning he had that they'd reached their destination was the challenge issued by the watch and answered in clipped and reassuring tones by the unit's commander. Most of the soldiers scattered shortly thereafter, pursuing their assigned errands.

A small knot of four soldiers stayed close and alert, however, and soon they began passing camouflaged tents. Appetizing smells were issuing from one of them. Gojyo turned his head toward it hopefully, but the soldiers marched their prisoners straight past it, then ordered them to take a sharp left between two smaller tents, occupied by soldiers who paused in cleaning their guns or huddling over their rations to stare openly at the group as it passed.

"Through here," the soldier on their right ordered, gesturing toward the tent in front of them and separated somewhat from the others. In the vague firelight, Gojyo could only catch glimpses of legs and boots and dry clumps of grass below him. Damn, but this position was undignified. And exhausting. It felt as if his whole lower body were being assaulted with vicious little pins and needles, and the blood rushing to his head made him feel dizzy.

Sanzo had to duck somewhat to make it through the tent's entrance flaps, but he straightened up as soon as he was inside. The soldier behind them followed but stayed carefully out of reach, rifle hoisted higher now that they were in an enclosed space, and the soldier that had been in front was already inside. Their guns were trained unerringly at the two potential enemies in their midst. Two of the soldiers remained just outside, flanking the tent flaps.

"Right, set him down over there," the soldier in front ordered, gesturing with his weapon. Sanzo dropped Gojyo unceremoniously on the narrow army-issue cot. The water sprite was so relieved to be stretched out and free of the bony shoulder that he almost didn't notice the stiff cast of the priest's shoulders and the slightly hunched angle of his back.

"Unnh," Gojyo grunted, stretching out carefully, mindful of his leg. Priesty boy was tough. He'd be fine. The canvas beneath him felt heavenly, but the metal rod behind his head was a bit painful. He wished he could scoot just a bit lower on the bed, so he seized hold of the sides of the bed to get some leverage.

But, before Gojyo could get any further, he could feel a pair of rough hands jerking his hands into place over his stomach and manacling them together. "Heeeey, easy there," Gojyo drawled, squinting up at the dark shape looming above him. "'M not going anywhere for a while."

The sound of clinking next to him announced Sanzo's similar confinement. "See that you don't," a gruff voice responded, the soldier standing at the mouth of the tent. "You'll be shot if you do."

With that, the two soldiers vacated the tent, leaving Sanzo and Gojyo alone in the semi-darkness.

Gojyo turned his head to catch a glimpse of the back of the muddy and disgruntled priest, who seemed to be staring fixedly at the opposite wall of the tent. There was a short silence.

Gojyo sighed and blew at a stray strand of hair hanging in his eyes. He squirmed a bit, trying, unsuccessfully, to scoot lower on the cot. After a few more increasingly frustrated attempts, Gojyo carefully turned his head toward the back of the priest's messy blond head. "Give us a hand, here, Sanzo, wouldja? There's a nice, helpful priest."

"... No." The blond head didn't turn.

"Oh, what the hell!?" Gojyo exploded, irritated. "My head's killing me, here. This metal bar is really digging into me. I'd move myself if I could."

"It's your own damn fault for getting caught in a fucking _animal_ trap," Sanzo growled, twitching. Gojyo could hear the sound of clinking coming from next to the cot.

"I couldn't _see_ it, Sanzo-chan." Gojyo's voice was a bit strained, mostly because he was frustrated that some part of him couldn't help agreeing with the heartless bastard. "It was hidden, you know," he continued, "and I was kind of busy taking down those blasted assassins. And where the hell were _you_ during all this?"

Sanzo's head pitched forward, as he rolled onto his knees. Gojyo realized that the priest must have been leaning against the cot before. This new position allowed Gojyo to note that the blond's hands were cuffed _behind_ his back. Sanzo's body wobbled somewhat as he awkwardly turned around, still on his knees. Suddenly, the fierce violet eyes glared directly into Gojyo's. "Looking for _your_ sorry ass."

Gojyo turned his head away to stare at the shadowy expanse of canvas above him. That face was just too intense, somehow, especially this close, and the last thing he needed right now was to irritate the priest even more. They should be working together to find a solution to this situation, not bickering. He turned his head back toward the blond, stoically matching the gaze leveled at his. "C'mere, and I'll grab you a smoke," Gojyo offered. He knew he could use one himself, and he hoped it was a sufficient peace offering.

Sanzo grunted, and his eyes lost some of their belligerence. He tottered to his feet, then dropped heavily and unceremoniously onto the edge of the cot, his back mostly to Gojyo. "Back left pocket," the priest instructed.

Gojyo stared at the muddy white ass perched next to his hands. He had an irrational urge to squeeze it. That would make his highness jump. An unbidden smile stretched briefly across Gojyo's exhausted face, but he smothered it quickly. This still left the undeniable problem that Sanzo's robes were hampering access to his jeans pockets. "Uh, man, I'm gonna need you to stand up for a sec. I can't get to your pockets when your dress is in the way." Damn! Why had he baited him again? It was just too easy.

Sanzo's head whipped around, eyes once again narrowed dangerously. "Watch it," he snapped, but he did manage to stand again, even though he was obviously feeling stiff.

"Easy, easy," Gojyo muttered appeasingly, twisting on the cot to reach the robe, causing a stab of pain to shoot through his broken leg. "Nnnn," he groaned, and then managed to grab a double handful of the coarse cloth and drag it up to the level of the cuffed hands hanging just below the black belt tied around the priest's waist. "'Kay, sit down again," he instructed, handcuff chain rattling.

A solid weight returned to the side of the cot. Gojyo started to reach his hands toward the indicated pocket, but then he stopped short. There was the possibility that the soldiers might offer medical treatment, and that might inconveniently reveal the fact that Gojyo had stowed Sanzo's gun in his inner side-trouser pocket. It might be safer with Sanzo at this point, as they'd already frisked him. Gojyo's eyes flicked toward the tent opening. He could see two shadows outlined on either side of the entrance. Even if they did look in, Sanzo's current position would, at least temporarily, block the view of what Gojyo had in his hands.

Hesitation cast firmly aside, Gojyo reached into his own trousers instead, and tugged the damp pistol out. The stiff back in front of him twitched at the noise and lack of cigarette fetching. The blond head swiveled suspiciously, and violet eyes widened considerably when they landed on the muddy firearm clutched in Gojyo's manacled hand. Gojyo shook his head slightly, crimson eyes willing Sanzo to understand. Mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something, Sanzo nodded his head fractionally and indicated his right pocket with a jerk of his chin.

After the furtive transfer had taken place, Gojyo once again reached for the pack of cigarettes in the left-hand pocket. It felt decidedly strange to be this close to a priest and touching him in this undeniably intimate area. Tired, miserable, and tense as Gojyo was, he couldn't help feeling a delightful frisson of excitement mixed with guilt. Flushing slightly, Gojyo snatched the packet of Marlboro reds and tugged the bunched robe more or less back into place.

"Here," Gojyo offered gruffly, as he shoved the packet at Sanzo's lap, then felt immediately stupid as he realized that the priest could hardly fetch one for himself. Jerking the crinkling red package back onto his chest with a sigh, he closed his eyes.

Sanzo stood up without a word, then turned around and knelt again, this time facing Gojyo, his eyes sliding pointedly toward the cigarettes. "Well?" he prompted impatiently.

Gojyo pulled a damp and crushed cigarette smoothly out of the package, and shoved it gingerly between the waiting teeth. It was really annoying the way he couldn't separate his hands more than a couple of inches, and the blasted cuffs were holding his hands so that the palms were facing away from each other, making it virtually impossible to hold something in both hands. Focusing on this safer line of thought, the water sprite dug awkwardly into his left pocket for his lighter. After a couple of failed attempts, he dragged it out, opened it, and flicked it to life. The blond head leaned forward imperiously, impatient for that first heavenly drag of nicotine.

The strong, angular face was briefly outlined in the warm glow of the flame, softening features. "Man," Gojyo thought, "Mr. Worldly Priest almost looks angelic like that." The long blond lashes flickered as the eyelids closed in contentment. Gojyo looked away and let the flame go out. What was _wrong_ with him? Setting the lighter carefully on his stomach, he started to reach for his own Hi-lites.

Sanzo had settled again on the ground, his back propped against the cot. A stream of smoke wafted upward, teasing the redhead's nostrils and making him even more desperate for a smoke. He renewed his efforts to wrestle the package out of his pocket. His hands kept getting in each other's way, though, and Gojyo grunted in frustration.

Rustling at the tent flap announced the presence of company. "Shit!" Gojyo thought. "They'd better not steal my damned lighter."

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

"Permission to enter, sir?" Li called briskly from the entrance to the captain's tent.

"Lieutenant!?" Tenjo sounded startled. "Enter." His tone had hardened. She was supposed to be guarding the entrance to the mine.

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Li ducked into the tent, hands clasped behind her back. She snapped to attention once through the tent's flaps.

"Report." Tenjo was hunched over a series of maps, but she had his full attention.

"Sir, we left camp at 1900 hours as planned, and encountered a band of youkai at approximately 1930 hours. We eliminated all of the youkai we could find, but, when we were patrolling the area for stragglers, we discovered that one of the traps had been set off."

"One of the traps?" Tenjo asked, interest and anticipation flaring in his eyes.

"Yes, sir." Li hesitated. They'd been hoping to catch whatever it was that had attacked Honshu. As tricky and bothersome as the marauding bands of youkai had proved to be, the stealth attacks that had left isolated soldiers missing for weeks had begun to drain morale. Finding the husk of Honshu like that, almost unrecognizable, had made her sure that they were up against something far worse.

"We found two of them. One of them had a leg caught in the trap, and the other was ... helping him, I think," she finished uncertainly. The blond one had seemed to be threatening more than helping at the time, but they had seemed to know each other, and the blond had helped splint the redhead's leg.

Tenjo frowned. "Sir, I don't know what they are, but they're not villagers. I had them brought here immediately," Li continued quickly.

Tenjo's frown deepened. "I see. Are they youkai?" he asked sharply.

Li bowed her head slightly. "I don't know, sir. I brought them here immediately for questioning. They've been restrained, and two of my men are standing guard."

Tenjo nodded slightly, rubbing his hands under his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. "Understood. What about the mine?"

"Sir, I sent Sergeant Rei and ten soldiers to investigate and set up a defensive position at the mine's entrance." And they'd better still be alive.

"I see." Tenjo's eyes slid to the tent flap. "Sergeant Nu," he barked.

A tousled head poked through the canvas. "Sir!"

"Tell Lieutenant Po I want him to mobilize his men immediately and report to the cave entrance. Sergeant Rei should already be there."

"Yes, sir!" The head bobbed and disappeared.

"Sir!" Li protested. "Sir, request permission to lead the rest of my men back to the mine to carry out their mission." They were her men, dammit, and it was her mission.

Tenjo's fierce eyes swung back to her. "Request denied. You're needed here. You did say one of them was caught in the trap, yes?" Li nodded, swallowing her impatience. "Then we'll need your medical expertise. Also," Tenjo continued as he slung his flak jacket on, "you were the one who picked them up. Take responsibilities for your actions."

"Yes, sir." The muscles in Li's arms tensed in frustration, but she bowed her head in acknowledgment and prepared to follow her captain out of the tent.

As they traversed the camp, Captain Tenjo called out orders and listened attentively to Li's detailed report. Their prisoners became more and more interesting by the minute. Although neither of them had appeared to be armed when they were captured, more than half of the youkai had been killed before Li's troops had arrived.


	7. Chapter 7

Sanzo's back and shoulders were killing him, but he'd die before he admitted it. Clearly, the cockroach needed to lose some weight ... or gain some sense. The cool, refreshing taste of nicotine soothed the ruffled priest's nerves. He could at least count on the kappa to understand the absolute necessity of a good smoke.

He could hear the sounds of booted feet approaching, but he studiously ignored them. They could bloody well wait until he was finished with his cigarette, especially since he hadn't had one in _hours._ The business end of a rifle intruded on his meditations and prodded him rudely on the shoulder, then swung into his face. "Stand up!" the soldier in front of him barked.

Sanzo glared at the menacing barrel and carefully rolled forward onto his knees again. Apparently he wasn't fast enough, though, because another set of hands grabbed his shoulders and yanked him roughly to his feet. Luckily for them, he had enough presence of mind to avoid dropping his cherished cigarette or biting off its end. It was damp and drooping, but it was still hanging defiantly between his lips and producing a thin trail of smoke.

His eyes slid left and right, taking in the situation. There were four of them, in all, making the small tent feel rather crowded. One of them was standing in front of him and covering him with an aimed rifle, one was standing behind Gojyo's head and appeared to be chaining his hands to the metal bar at the head of the cot, the redheaded chick was back and was sitting down in a camp chair set at the edge of the cot, and the fourth one was clearly in charge. The smug bastard was seated in another camp chair, this one situated in the corner of the tent opposite the camp bed. There were no other chairs. Lovely.

The sound of cloth tearing was followed by the sound of scissors snipping. "Ooh, kinky," Gojyo's voice floated over from behind Sanzo's back. "But I don't generally perform for audiences, sweetie." Flirting shamelessly, as always. Sanzo ground his teeth, causing his cigarette to waver dangerously.

"Owww! Damn, you're mean!" The pained exclamation was accompanied by the sound of murmured orders being issued by the redheaded soldier. Sanzo's eyes slid inexorably toward the camp bed. The pervy water sprite had probably deserved whatever he'd gotten, but Sanzo felt uneasy. The kappa was an idiot, but he was _his_ idiot, dammit.

"Never mind them," the commanding officer instructed. "I want to know what you're doing here in Niko woods." The man's eyes were hard and sharp. Sanzo scowled.

"Trying to leave," Sanzo growled, maintaining a determined grip on his cigarette.

"Really? What brought you here in the first place, then?"

"Nnnn, the damned endless ravine from hell," Gojyo grunted. "At-chaaa! Watch it, there, minx!" This comment was followed by the sound of a hearty thump and then shortly thereafter by the rattling of chains. "You call yourself a doctor!? What the hell!?"

Sanzo's eyes slid toward the water sprite again. What the hell were they up to? The military belts that had been used to bind the kappa's legs together as a temporary splint had been removed, and so had the cloth below the knee of his right trouser leg. It looked like the smudged and bloody strips of cloth wrapped around the wound were in the process of being cut off. Sanzo's fingers twitched irritably. The sleeves of this robe were ruined now, thanks to that incompetent cockroach. At least the idiot looked like he was actually being treated, despite his complaints.

After a few seconds of glaring pointedly at the woman working on his leg, Gojyo's head fell back on the cot, and he continued. "We're fucking travelers, you got that? We're just passing through your miserable Neko woods or whatever. You treat all your guests this way? 'Cause I can tell you now, we've been traveling for a while now, and your reception's really climbing the sucky scale."

"Travelers?" the sharp voice of the commander called out. "On foot? Where are your supplies, then?"

Smoke drifted lazily past Sanzo's nostrils. What the hell were these people up to? They'd run into hostile and suspicious humans before, but they were generally townsfolk who'd been attacked by youkai recently. These soldiers weren't natives, so what were they doing here, and why were they so hostile?

"Obviously on foot, moron. How else do you think I got my leg stuck in your blasted trap?!" Gojyo's face contorted in pain again, and his eyes slid briefly to meet the priest's. "And can somebody slide me just an inch lower on this damn cot? This metal bar is killing me, here."

"We've been here for weeks now, and we haven't seen a single traveler in all that time. This country is practically a war zone with all the rabid youkai running rampant. Try again."

"What the hell are _you_ doing here, then?" Sanzo asked pointedly, turning back to the commanding officer.

"Protecting our interests." Tenjo steepled his hands and cocked his head on the side, assessing the irritated and bedraggled blond in front of him. After a short pause, he continued. "All right, suppose I accept that you're travelers. That still leaves the question of how you managed to hold off a horde of youkai. Not many humans can boast of such a feat, especially unarmed."

"Yeah, well, I am pretty amazing sometimes," Gojyo drawled from the cot. "I was cleaning up before I fell into your damned trap. What were you tryin' to catch, anyway? I'm guessing it wasn't actually me."

"Yes, about that," Tenjo started, a gleam in his eye. He was interrupted by a soldier who ducked into the tent and leaned over to whisper in his ear. After several short, low-pitched, and tense comments were exchanged, Tenjo nodded, and the soldier left, ducking back out of the tent.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about a cave entrance collapsing, would you?" he asked pointedly.

"No, should I?" Sanzo asked, his brow furrowed in impatience. Was this some kind of test? How the hell should he know what's happened to a cave he's never seen?

"My men," Li's voice cut in sharply. "Any casualties?"

"They're fine," Tenjo reassured her. "It was already caved in when they got there. The excavation is already in progress. I'm going to need you to go talk to the natives and see if they know anything. You're finished here, aren't you?"

"Almost, sir," Li responded, saluting smartly and gathering up her supplies. Standing up, she spoke to Gojyo. "You're going to need to take one of these every six hours for the next two days. They're to prevent infection from setting in." With that, she set a small plastic bottle filled with white pills on the cot. She nodded to the soldier at the head of the cot. "Release him. He can't walk anyway."

Tenjo stood up and addressed his prisoners. "I'm going to have to ask you to stay here for now. I have more pressing issues to attend to right now, but we'll continue this conversation tomorrow. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable."

Gojyo growled, but he was somewhat distracted by the soldier releasing hands. "At least send us another frickin' cot. He's a real asshole when he doesn't get his beauty rest."

Sanzo glared daggers at Gojyo, but there was no answer from the soldiers as they swiftly evacuated the tent. Gojyo sat up, rubbing his wrists. "Bastards!" he muttered. His eyes flicked to Sanzo, who was now pacing back and forth in the tent.

"Where the _hell_ are Hakkai and Goku!?" Sanzo turned again, his muddy robes flapping a bit as he spun.

"I dunno where Goku is. We got ambushed in the damn fog, and he just took off, the stupid monkey. I figured he ran into you."

"Obviously not," Sanzo snarled, still pacing.

"Well what about Hakkai? I thought he was with you." Gojyo frowned. This day had just totally sucked, and he had a sneaky suspicion that it would never end, at this rate. His leg ached, and he couldn't move it. He was filthy and desperately wanted a bath. His head was resting on the hardest metal bar known to the world. He hadn't had a smoke in fucking forever. Sanzo was pacing and giving him a headache. The monkey had abandoned him in the middle of a battle and was off gallivanting who knew where. Hakkai was AWOL. And Sanzo was pacing like a caged panda, which was going to make Gojyo go cross-eyed any second now. "Fucking stop that, dammit, and tell me where Hakkai is!" Gojyo growled in frustration.

"Hell if I know. That healer of Kougaiji's showed up and wanted to talk to him." The blond priest paused briefly in his cramped pacing. "Last I saw, she was leading him somewhere. Probably a trap. I knew I shouldn't have trusted any of Kougaiji's minions."

Gojyo threw his hands up in the air and rolled his eyes. "You worry too damned much." He lay back down on the cot, ignoring the priest's scowl, and banged his head again. Irritated, he finally managed to scoot lower now that his hands were free. "She probably just wanted to get him alone so they could make out or something. About time too. Those two have been digging on each other forever. Seriously! That never occurred to you, man? Way to get all worked up over nothing."

Sanzo stalked over to the cot and leaned menacingly over the water sprite's head. "Not everything is about sex, you damned pervert!" Why the hell was Gojyo so relaxed about Hakkai doing unspeakable things with the enemy? Didn't he care about his friend? Stupid water sprite! Stupid!

"Oh, lighten up, Mr. High-and-Mighty Priest. I just hope our lovebirds get a move on so we can get the hell outta here. But, for now, I'm just gonna," Gojyo yawned, "recharge my batteries. A bed's a bed, after all. At least I can stretch out."

Sanzo scowled and kicked one of the cot's support legs. It swayed in a satisfying manner, and made the water sprite yelp as his eyes flew open and his arms clutched the metal frame. By the time Gojyo had sat up, the priest had already turned his back on him and was awkwardly lowering himself onto the ground in the opposite corner, facing the tent flaps. He watched the blond's awkward maneuvering for a few minutes in silence, and then lay back down on his cot. Sanzo definitely needed to loosen up some. Maybe he wouldn't be so damn touchy if he got laid now and then. Gojyo closed his eyes. Meh. He'd worry about that in the morning. Now he just wanted some sleep.

Unfortunately, three uncomfortable hours later, in which he tried several times to move in his sleep, only to feel a sharp stab of pain when his leg protested, Gojyo's bladder was really very full, and he wasn't going to get any more sleep until he emptied it. He growled and shivered. Stupid sleeveless jacket, stupid torn trousers. He turned his head and stared at the silent huddled form in the corner of the tent. Stupid priest with his long robe. He was probably snug as a bug. Man, this was why camping out sucked. Gojyo shifted some more on the camp bed and contemplated his options: wake up the pissy priest and ask him for help, or stumble out of the tent on his own. Obvious choice, really.

Four panting minutes later, Gojyo was on the floor clutching the edge of the cot. Damn, that hurt! The stupid witch doctor obviously didn't know what she was doing. "Okay, take five," he told himself, "then back into the fray."

"You won't get far like that, so stop making so much damned noise. Some of us are trying to sleep." Ah, shit. So much for not waking up his royal holiness.

"Have a heart, man. Call of nature," Gojyo grunted, and promptly overturned the cot in his attempt to pull himself into a vertical position. "Dammit!" he swore, and lay, flat on his back, staring at the canvas pressing against his nose.

"Pathetic," observed a voice above him, and suddenly the cot was kicked away. in the darkness, Gojyo could just make out the soft outlines of a flowing robe. The standing figure knelt silently next to him, head turned away.

"My hero," the redhead murmured as he tucked his good leg under himself and clutched the proffered shoulder. Awkwardly, the two of them managed to struggle to their feet. In the uncoordinated scramble, Gojyo had noticed that Sanzo's hands were now cuffed in front rather than in back. He decided not to ask. His bladder was too full to care.

"I get the cot after this," Sanzo growled, and headed toward the back of the tent. Gojyo grunted in acknowledgment. Anything was better than the indignity of pissing his pants. Right arm slung around the priest's tense shoulders, he conjured his shakujou and sliced a slit in the back of the tent. Their guards were probably either sleeping or otherwise distracted if the recent commotion hadn't already drawn their attention, but it didn't hurt to be circumspect, especially if it meant getting to the nearest tree faster.

The camp seemed surprisingly quiet around them. Most of the soldiers must be sleeping, then. Gojyo huffed as he hobbled along, trying desperately not to jar his right leg more than absolutely necessary. Luckily, the nearest tree proved to be attainable, and Gojyo clutched it gratefully with his left arm. The priest had already moved away and turned his back on the proceedings. Gojyo appreciated the gesture as he fiddled with the appropriate fastenings and took care of his business.

Although the trip had definitely relieved the insistent pressure on his bladder, he was now forced to acknowledge that his stomach was uncomfortably empty. It growled menacingly. "Cheee!" Gojyo moaned.

"What now!?" Sanzo hissed from behind him. The water sprite wobbled for a second in surprise, and then caught his balance by once again swinging his arm around the priest's shoulders.

"Well, we're out anyway. What do you say we raid their food stores?" Gojyo's warm body leaning up against his left side unnerved Sanzo. It was disconcerting because he thought he'd put all that behind him years ago when he'd left Shuei. All that mattered now was recovering his sensei's scripture. Nothing else mattered. Everything else was a distraction.

"Fine," Sanzo grunted, reminded that he, too, was hungry. It had, after all, been a long day, and the bastards owed them some dinner, at least. They hobbled back toward camp.

"Which tent was it?" Gojyo whispered, brow furrowed. He'd been a bit disoriented at the time, what with staring at feet and trying to ignore being split in half.

"I thought you knew," Sanzo hissed back, and shifted his shoulders in discomfort.

After about twenty minutes of awkward wandering, in which they had to duck out of sight several times to avoid running into passing patrols, they finally hit the jackpot. This was lucky because Gojyo had almost been ready to concede defeat and, if necessary, crawl back to the tent. A couple of soldiers were asleep in the mess tent, blankets loosely draped over their shoulders and still clutching bottles of beer in their hands as they drooled on the aluminum table surface.

Gojyo insisted on liberating one of the blankets and tying it around his shoulders before they continued on to the crates and boxes of food in the back, behind the makeshift counter. "What's with all the fucking cans?" Gojyo asked irritably as he leaned against the counter and watched Sanzo rifle efficiently through the available supplies. "Haven't they ever heard of fresh food?"

Sanzo paused in his inventory and glared up at the ridiculous figure next to him. The camouflage blanket made the water sprite look more like a demented superhero more than anything else, especially with the mismatched lengths of his trouser legs and the extra bulk of the splint and bandages. "They're military rations. What did you expect?" Sanzo returned to his search, tugging yet another cabinet open.

"Oooh, I found some booze," Gojyo announced proudly, pulling a bottle of cooking wine out from behind a sack of rice.

"Good for you," Sanzo replied, distracted. He had finally come across something that looked promising. "Ah-ha! Meat buns," he announced as he yanked a tray out from the bottom metal rack of the oven.

"Ooh! Score! The monkey'll sit up and beg for those." A reminiscent smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but then it slipped away as he realized that the monkey was, in fact, missing. Che! His loss. He shouldn't have bailed earlier. Gojyo shook his head and looked for a place to sit, and opted to perch on the counter, as he didn't favor hobbling all the way back to the tables and hauling a chair all the way back. It was a bit unsteady, and his leg protested, but it was better than standing. He took a long swig of the wine, winced at the salty taste, and then offered the bottle to the priest, who was sitting on a crate and scarfing down a meat bun. "Exchange?" Gojyo offered brightly.

An hour later, Gojyo felt much warmer, and all the meat buns were gone. They'd managed to dig up some apples as well, which had really helped fill up the corners. Yawning again, he was just about to suggest they return to the camp bed when they heard a commotion outside the mess tent.

"Damn! They've realized we're out after curfew." Gojyo wavered a bit as he slid gracelessly off of the counter. The wine bottle was now quite empty, as were a couple of beer bottles they'd found stashed away. "Cheeeee!" Man, having a broken leg really sucked. "You could've caught me!" he accused, squinting around for the priest.

"I _did,_ you moron!" came a muffled voice from nearby. Gojyo had a sinking feeling that the hard, angular corner digging into his shoulder was actually a hip and not, in fact, a can, as he had first suspected. "Get. Up. Now." The hissing was kind of distracting, but it also sounded dangerous. Gojyo tried to move. Really he did. He just wasn't feeling very coordinated right now. After a bit of partially successful fumbling on Gojyo's part, Sanzo shoved the water sprite out of his lap and stood up.

Booted feet were getting closer. The muffled voices got louder. "Well, then, find a medic!" one voice called out in frustration.

"I think this one's already dead!" another voice called.

"Sir, the tent's empty!" yet another voice reported.

"Find them! NOW!" That voice sounded really angry. Gojyo had a feeling that was not good news.

"Uh-oh," he hiccuped as he heard the mess tent flap fly open.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm so sorry this is so short. Between my sister's graduation and the last-minute rush for the holidays, I didn't get as far as I'd hoped. I should have another update next week, but it may be short as well. Please forgive me. bow Thank you so much to everyone who's been following this story. I really appreciate the feedback!

* * *

Rifles cocked and aimed unerringly at the blond priest, who was standing up to his full height and barely wobbling at all, even though he'd finished off a bottle of sake all by himself, selfish bastard.

Captain Tenjo stalked forward, muddy, exhausted, and frustrated. He returned the priest's defiant glare. "I thought I told you to stay put." His gaze wandered, searching for the other prisoner. Ah. There. He could see the trail of telltale red hair curling over the edge of a rice bag lying behind the blond one.

Sanzo's pinkie rotated insolently in his ear. The effect was somewhat ruined by the rattling of the chains as his other hand was forced to go along for the ride. "I was hungry." He shrugged. At least that wasn't hampered by the stupid cuffs. "And your guards never brought me a cot."

Tenjo's head dipped somewhat to conceal the highly inappropriate twitching of his lips. He knew he had no reason to trust these two, but, really, if they chose to raid the food stores after escaping instead of killing the stupid, lazy privates who were sleeping outside their tent, they probably weren't actually his enemies. "I see," he responded gravely. He still wanted answers from them. He was sure they were up to something. "Sergeant Nu," he called without turning his head.

"Yes, sir!" A head appeared around the tent flap.

"Escort our guests to the medical tent, would you? They seem to have gotten lost. Make sure you provide them with a cot each, as they seem disinclined to share."

"Sir!" The head peering around the tent flap proved to be attached to the body of a short but well-muscled body as the soldier made his way to the two wayward prisoners. A couple of privates were waved over to provide an escort. One of them ended up yanking Gojyo to his feet and dragging him toward the exit after Sanzo fell down twice in an attempt to do it himself.

A scowling Sanzo shook off hands that attempted to do the same with him. He staggered determinedly after the retreating form of his bedraggled cockroach. He'd had just about enough of people touching him and his property without permission. It was still quite dark out, the blackness only relieved by the light of scattered banked fires, and the wind had picked up. He shivered briefly. The exercise and the adrenaline rush of the situation were going a long way toward dissipating the mellow buzz he'd managed to acquire back in the mess tent.

Eyes fixed on the shock of red hair sliding carelessly back and forth across the camouflaged shoulder ahead of him, Sanzo felt a strong twinge of anger curling in his gut. He stumbled a bit faster, almost tripping over a tree root. How _dare_ that bastard get friendly with _his_ ... his what, exactly? They weren't exactly friends. Sanzo had never actually had any of those, so he was pretty damned sure he and Gojyo weren't friends. Gojyo and Hakkai were friends. Gojyo and Goku were practically brothers. He and Gojyo were ... Well, he missed the damn bastard when he was gone, and sometimes the cockroach was even useful. The kappa _belonged_ to him. But why the hell did he have to be so damn distracting?

The figures in front of him took a sharp turn and disappeared through a tent flap. Sanzo ducked through the same flap, and slammed into the back of the soldier in front of him. The man appeared to be struggling with his now-animated burden. "Hey, settle down! Hey!" The soldier seemed to be losing the battle to contain Gojyo, who finally seized the soldier's neck in a vicious pinch and punched him in the gut.

The soldier collapsed, gasping, and reached for his rifle. Sanzo kicked it deliberately out of reach and stepped around the doubled-over soldier. Gojyo was dragging himself across the ground impatiently, his face contorted in rage and pain. Sanzo's frown deepened, and he strode over to yank Gojyo to his feet. What the hell had gotten him so riled up? Sanzo froze just as the kappa finally reached the edge of the first hospital bed and dragged himself up on one knee, his face hovering over the face lying there. Dammit! Familiar messy black hair and three telltale ear clips were visible through the messy, mud-streaked red fringe of Gojyo's hair.

"HAKKAI! Shit! You in there, man?" Gojyo's voice was hoarse. A tight lump formed in Sanzo's throat. Gods, I need help. I'm jealous of Hakkai. Steady, reliable Hakkai. Gojyo's friend. Frozen in place, "Hold nothing, desire nothing," raced around and around in Sanzo's mind, making him feel dizzy and impatient. This was stupid. It was just the sake and the lack of sleep confusing him. Of course he didn't want Gojyo. He only wanted to recover his sensei's missing sutra. Nothing else mattered. ... Nothing.

A voice from the far end of the tent piped up, providing a vague, half-noticed distraction. "You know him? Look, do you know if he has any allergies? He's loaded to the gills with venom, so we need to know now."

Gojyo's head shot up, hope and confusion flashing in his eyes. "Uh, not that I know of." Gojyo's head turned. "Sanzo?" he asked, brow furrowed.

The priest's stiffened limbs finally loosened. "How the hell should I know? Just fix him!" He stumbled over to a nearby bed, and dropped heavily onto it, holding his head in one hand, stupid chain clinking. He thought he might be getting a migraine. He needed better minions. And sleep. Lots of sleep. His eyes itched. He could hear the angry grumblings of the soldier who'd been assaulted, followed by a restraining voice ordering him to stand guard outside.

The world blurred somewhat, and Sanzo shut his eyes. He could sense motion nearby. After some scraping and rustling noises, the mattress he was sitting on dipped somewhat, and a weight draped against his side. He didn't open his eyes. The weight felt familiar, so he didn't attempt to shrug it off. Distantly, in the background, he could hear voices calling to each other. Apparently, they'd isolated the source of the poison and had an antivenin that they were injecting now. Sanzo hated needles. They reminded him of impossibly long fingernails, slashing, stabbing, tearing. Flashes of his sensei's stained robes flapping as he collapsed in front of him forced their way into his consciousness. Violet eyes flew open abruptly, banishing the vivid memory.

A cluster of white-jacketed figures blocked his view of Hakkai. He really wanted this day to fucking end. The last thing he heard, before he drifted off, was a voice saying, "He must be one tough SOB. I think he's going to make it. But why the hell are the puncture wounds so far apart if it's king cobra venom?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Mmm," Gojyo mumbled, his mouth feeling cottony and tasting vile. His face was buried in something soft and silky, which was kind of nice, except it was making it hard to breathe. He pulled his head back a bit and stretched. His legs both felt like they had fallen asleep. Aw, damn. He'd only been half on the bed when he'd passed out. He slid his arm back around the waist of the body next to his and gave it a quick squeeze. Chicks dug that sort of thing. It made it a hell of a lot easier later. He was a bit confused when it registered that this one was still wearing a dress. Had he been too drunk to get that far? A brief survey revealed that this one either had a very oddly shaped hip bone or was also packing heat. Whoa. Gojyo's arm retreated swiftly, and his eyes flew open to assess the situation properly.

Shit. Gojyo stared at the slumped form lying next to him. The crumpled sutra was pretty distinctive. "Well, there's a first time for everything," he thought philosophically, "even sleeping with a priest." Sighing heavily, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Memories of the night before were slowly sliding into place in his head. Brushing his mud-encrusted hair out of his face, his eyes lingered on the sleeping blond curled on the bed. It really was a shame the guy'd become a priest. He was quite the looker when he wasn't scowling and aiming his damn pistol in people's faces. It was odd, though, that abstinence seemed to be the only tenet of Buddhism that the priest really seemed to respect.

As if the sleeping priest could feel the eyes fixed on him, his brow furrowed, and his hands twitched. Gojyo shook his head in amused disbelief, and turned back to more pressing matters, like how he was going to regain feeling in his legs and whether Hakkai was still alive.

Ignoring his protesting legs, Gojyo managed to stumble the couple of feet separating the two beds. It must have been be fairly late in the day because bright light was streaming into the tent through the open tent flaps. Hakkai's form was still unnaturally still, even for his normal controlled calm, but his face was no longer whiter than a sheet. Some color had crept back into his cheeks, and his breathing was regular, if shallow.

After hovering awkwardly over Hakkai's bed and feeling useless for a couple more minutes, Gojyo decided that he really needed a damn shower, and he needed one now. His legs still felt stiff, and he hadn't really regained feeling in them yet, but he thought that, if he watched carefully, he could probably put them more or less where he wanted them to go.

The guards at the tent flaps had other ideas, though. Their rifles menacingly gestured him back inside. Gojyo was sorely tempted to strangle them. Apparently, they didn't sleep in the middle of the day ... or appreciate the seriousness of feeling like something the cat dragged through the mud and then left under the porch to rot. Stupid, selfish bastards.

"Look, you want me to piss on you or in the bushes? It's up to you." He realized belatedly that he probably should have ditched the blanket still tied around his neck.

The soldiers were still looking stubborn, but they were exchanging looks and seemed uncomfortable. Luckily for them, Sergeant Nu showed up just then. "Ah, I see you're up." His eyes slid from one tense face to another. They settled on Gojyo's. "What can I do for you?"

Two hours later, feeling much more relaxed, Gojyo re-entered the medical tent wearing baggy army fatigues. His right leg still twinged when he wasn't careful, and he'd left the splint in place for extra support, but, thanks to his youkai heritage, it was already mostly healed. And the guys weren't all that bad. He'd even managed to win a pack of cigarettes playing poker with Sergeant Newbie. The guy's eggs were terrible, and so was his poker strategy, but he'd been helpful and had even secured hot water for Gojyo's bath.

Raised voices could be heard from the far end of the tent. Glancing at the line of beds, Gojyo noted that Hakkai was still unconscious and Sanzo's bed was empty. Ah. His holiness was having words with one of the soldiers. He headed over to see what they were going on about, Sergeant Nu following in his wake.

"That's not my problem!" That would be Sanzo-sama. He sounded pissy, probably had a hangover. Served him right for hoarding the sake. ... 'Course, he's kinda cute when he's angry ... and when he's drunk off his ass.

"I see." There was a tense pause from Tenjo, whose arms were crossed and eyes were narrowed. "Well, your friend here isn't exactly my problem either, is he?" He nodded his head toward Hakkai.

Sanzo's hands were no longer manacled, and the right one was clenching like it wanted to be holding something—a pistol, most likely. Negotiation wasn't really his strong suit, especially when he hadn't had his coffee.

Gojyo stood behind the two arguing figures and slung an arm around each of their necks. "Yo!" he called cheerfully, leaning heavily on them to be sure he had their attention. "So, what's up?"

Both heads swung around and stared at him. Sanzo's eyes were narrowed, and they tracked up and down in disapproval, taking in the army fatigues and the damp hair. Tenjo just looked flummoxed by the water sprite's casual behavior.

Gojyo was oblivious, though, as he stared at what was lying in front of him. The cigarette that had been nestled between his lips tumbled to the ground unnoticed. "Uh, dudes." He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them. Nope, still there. He shook his head in disbelief. "Isn't that, ummm, isn't that Yaone-san?"

"Possibly," Tenjo answered shortly, exchanging a glance with Sanzo. "This youkai was found dead, crushed in the cave-in. It wasn't as lucky as your friend. Rubble was piled all around him, but only his legs were buried."

"Shit. Tough luck," Gojyo murmured, frowning. "And she's not an 'it.'" He shook his head again and met Sanzo's eyes. "Damn, but Hakkai's gonna have a fit when he sees this."

Sanzo's arms crossed over his chest, his hands disappearing inside his long sleeves as he turned back to the battered corpse lying on the cot in front of them. "I wonder," he responded cryptically. "I doubt I'll have to read a sutra for this one."

"That's cold, man! I mean, she was working for Kougaiji and all, but still!" Gojyo grabbed Sanzo's shoulder to get his attention and glared at him.

Sanzo shook his shoulder free and slipped an arm out of his sleeves to point at the corpse. "Look carefully, idiot!" Sanzo turned the lifeless head from side to side and stared expectantly at the redhead next to him.

Gojyo stared at the dark, trailing braids; the thick, parted bangs; the delicately pointed ears; and the bruised and battered face and neck. He shook his head, irritated. "I don't get it! She's a youkai. So what?" She probably wouldn't really want a sutra read, but Hakkai might. What the hell was his holiness on about now?

"The pattern on her neck," Sanzo growled, pointing again. "Bruises are never that regular."

Gojyo's eyes swung back to study the neck more carefully. There were two very symmetric black triangles on either side of her neck. "That's ... weird," he admitted, "but that's definitely Yaone's face, man. I'd know it anywhere. I mean, she is ... uh, was, hot and all."

"Those markings were barely visible last night when they discovered the corpse. Apparently, they match the markings of a king cobra snake. And, according to the medics," Sanzo's eyes flicked toward Tenjo, who was now conversing in low tones with Sergeant Nu, "that's the type of venom they found in Hakkai."

Gojyo frowned, confused. He didn't know what type of youkai Yaone was, but he was pretty sure she wasn't a snake youkai. They had distinctive markings, and he'd never seen any on her before. "So, this isn't Yaone?" he asked in disbelief. Other than the strange markings on her neck, it certainly _looked_ like Yaone.

"Who knows," Sanzo answered, dragging out a cigarette and lighting it, "but this is probably what attacked Hakkai, and therefore I'm not inclined to read a sutra." He blew a puff of smoke in Gojyo's face.

Gojyo's eyes watered briefly as he stared at the set lines of the priest's face. He'd seen that look before. That look meant that someone was in his way and wouldn't be for long.

"Right, which is why I proposed that we collaborate here." Tenjo had apparently finished his conversation with Sergeant Nu because he was once again facing Sanzo with a determined look in his eye. "You seem to have considerable experience dealing with youkai, and we have a youkai problem. You help us sort out our youkai problem, and we'll help your friend get back on his feet ASAP."

Sanzo pushed past Gojyo and glared up at Tenjo. He _hated_ people who towered over him. "And _I_ said," Sanzo growled, "Your youkai problem is none of my concern. I have a monkey to fetch. Fix your own damn problems!" With that, Sanzo stalked past Tenjo, robes swishing, toward the tent's flaps.

Gojyo's gaze darted back toward the youkai corpse, then slid to Hakkai's still form, and finally rested on the departing priest. "Hold it there, Sanzo." The priest spun and glared. "If Goku's really lost, we'll have a better chance of finding him if more people are looking." He turned to Tenjo. "We already cleared out most of the youkai in the area. What do you expect us to do? We're travelers. We're not staying. Besides, it didn't look like you needed that much help with them."

"We don't need help with those riffraff. They're annoying, yes, but we can certainly handle them. The problem is that we've been suffering from surprise attacks by creatures that inject poison and decompose their victims. I've already lost several men, most of whom we've never found, but the village has lost a good third of its population over the last two weeks. And that's a problem. It looks like your group has been targeted as well. I don't know who or what this Goku is, but we'll help you look for him if you'll cooperate with us on the venomous youkai. We're pretty sure this isn't the only one." He gestured toward the corpse.

"Fine, whatever." Sanzo growled, turning back toward the tent flaps. "We owe the bastards anyway for what they did to Hakkai. Just don't get in our way!" This time he really did leave, and Gojyo headed out after him, hands thrust deep in the pockets of his newly acquired army fatigues.

"Thanks, man. We're counting on you," Gojyo called without turning, waving his hand casually as he passed through the flaps.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

"Piiiing poooong!" a cheerful voice sang out. "Someone's being a naughty boy." The sound of disapproving clucking echoed over the P.A. system in the room of Rasetsunyo. Kougaiji whirled away from the bulkhead doors where he'd been using his body as a shield while he attempted to burn out the locks.

"What shall we do to make sure he doesn't try again, Bunny-chan?" Kougaiji froze for an instant, then darted over to where Lirin was lying limply on the couch, and dove on top of her. He could hear an explosion off to his left, and he felt chunks of concrete land on his back. Most of them were small, but a few were large enough to leave bruises.

"Oniii-chaaan," Lirin moaned. "You're heavy. Get uuup." She pushed ineffectually at the body sprawled over hers and coughed fitfully as the dust settled around them.

Kougaiji slowly pushed himself up off the couch, carefully surveying his surroundings. He'd learned the hard way that the bastard could be rather unpredictable and devastatingly callous. His arms stiffened. The column. His mother's column. A large crater was glaring at him just above of his mother's bowed head. Bits of her hair, chunks of concrete still clinging to it, hung down around her face. Some of it had been ripped free of her head and lay in winding trails on the floor at her feet.

His face turned deathly pale and twisted into a bitter grimace of barely repressed fury. "You fucking MONSTER!!" he roared, racing toward the column, knowing he couldn't protect it or even touch it when all the warding spells were still hanging in place.

"Oh, dear! And in front of your mother, too. How shocking. Brats today have no respect." The voice crackling over the P.A. system sounded deeply amused and gratified. Kougaiji saw red as he bounced off the wards and landed flat on his back, his mother and her hair entirely beyond his reach.

"Don't you DARE speak of my mother! You insidious WORM!!" Kougaiji's chest was heaving, but he had regained his feet, and was now facing one of the cameras installed in the high ceiling.

"Hooooh? After you were the one who put her in jeopardy? I thought we had an understanding. You don't try to escape, and I don't detonate the column. Next time I'll set them ALL off. It would be inconvenient if you wandered off just now. So stay put like a good dog."

Kougaiji seethed and trembled with anger, wishing he could wring the smug bastard's neck. This was getting him nowhere, and it might provoke another attack. He couldn't afford to lose it now, not when his mother was depending on him.

"Onii-chan ... are we gonna eat soon?" Lirin had rolled halfway off the couch. Her face was pale, and her body drooped. She'd been angry when she'd first realized that they were captured, and she'd paced endlessly, looking for exits and demanding to be released, but, as the weeks had passed, she had left the couch less and less often. Now her voice was a mere shadow of its former self.

Kougaiji's gaze flicked from his sister's limp form back to the swiveling security camera. She'd held out longer than he could ever have hoped or imagined. She was a child, for all her bravado, and it was his responsibility to protect her. He could humble himself for that. He could. And he'd pay the bastard back a hundredfold later. Right now, staying alive was more important.

"Lirin's hungry," he finally managed to choke out. His voice was remarkably even, but his eyes were fixed on the dusty cables strung along the walls. Defeat tasted bitter in his mouth. To think that it would come to this, that his family would fall this low. He hadn't shed a tear when his father had died. The bastard could rot in hell for all he cared. But he would never forgive that vile, conniving slut for imprisoning his mother and then inviting that human bastard into the palace.

"Well, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement," Ni's satisfied voice purred, his voice echoing in the huge, empty room. "I'll send Hwan with food, but I'm going to need a blood sample. So make sure you cooperate. Bunny-chan's counting on you."

Kougaiji's eyes closed, and he sighed. Sometimes he envied that human priest, Sanzo. He only ever fought for himself, or so he said. Kougaiji had his doubts sometimes, though. The bastard was strong, and so were his minions, but surely even he would humble himself to save their lives. He couldn't really have nothing precious in his life, nothing worth protecting.

When he turned around again to check on Lirin, he saw that she'd fallen back into a fitful doze, her head hanging off the edge of the couch, the knuckles of one hand brushing the floor, and her boots tucked behind one of the battered cushions. No, he couldn't honestly wish he had nothing to protect. He just wished he could be stronger or smarter so that the people who were precious to him wouldn't have to suffer.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry there was no update last week. I wanted to make sure everything hung together properly. :) Although, honestly, I've revised this chapter so much that, by the end, I just wanted to chuck it out the window. I hope it's okay. As always, I sincerely appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks for reading!

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As they were passing the outskirts of the camp, Gojyo waved cheerily at the sentries. They frowned and clutched their weapons, but apparently word had spread that the two travelers were now allowed to come and go as they pleased. A flushed and frowning Li brushed past them, her eyes catching on them briefly before she called a curt acknowledgment to the guards and continued striding rapidly toward the center of the camp.

Gojyo's head turned a bit to follow her until she disappeared out of sight. He turned back to Sanzo, who was also frowning. "Witchy looked like she was in a bit of a hurry," he commented lightly.

"Mmmm," Sanzo grunted in acknowledgment and continued forward, his hand slipping through the slit in his robes to drag his pistol out of his pocket and flip it open.

"So, fearless leader, where're we gonna look first?" Gojyo asked, leaning into Sanzo's range of vision to get his attention.

"Hell if I know. You're the one who lost him." Sanzo's cigarette twitched as he spoke, and he pointedly ignored the red hair swinging in front of his face.

"'Kay then." Gojyo pulled back, and surveyed their surroundings as they continued to walk forward. "Guess we'd better go look where I left him. Maybe he's just sitting in one of those trees an' pouting 'cause we forgot about him." He didn't believe a word of it, but there was no point getting all worked up when they didn't have any information. Sometimes no news was good news. Gojyo pulled out one of his new cigarettes and fumbled for a lighter. Damn. He'd lost his back at the army camp. He glanced over at the scowling priest. "Uhhh, Sanzo, d'ya mind?"

Sanzo glanced at him, tossed a lighter at his head, and then sped up so that he was walking in front. Heh. His Holiness really was missing his monkey. The brat could be a bit much sometimes, especially when he insisted on stealing food from other people's plates, but at least he wasn't a repressed bastard. Gojyo lit the cigarette, pocketed the lighter, and followed the swishing muddy robes that were now fluttering in front of him.

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"Sir!" Li burst into the medical tent, and scanned the room for signs of Captain Tenjo. The guards had told her he'd be here, and they damn well better be right. Her eyes fixed on the black beret floating above the sea of camo and white lab coats. "Sir!" she called again, and shoved her way through. Tenjo looked up from a clipboard to stare at her impatiently. "We've got a problem, sir. The villagers. They're refusing to go near the mine."

"What?" Tenjo snapped, brow furrowing. He shoved the clipboard at a nearby medic. "Why? We need to make that shipment. It's overdue as it is."

Li's head bobbed in acknowledgment. She knew as well as he did that, without high-quality iron ore, their country would be defenseless against the hordes of youkai monsters. If no more shipments were sent, at the very least they would all be facing a court-martial for gross incompetence. "Sir, it's the cave-in. As you know, the youkai attacks have been reducing the village's population for weeks now, despite our patrols. After their monk went missing last week, they've been virtually unmanageable. The cave-in was the last straw. Another three miners went missing during the clean-up operations, and now they refuse to work for us anymore, no matter what we pay them."

Tenjo brought his hand to his forehead and nodded sharply. "Understood, lieutenant." He turned to the man next to him. "Sergeant Nu, take a squad and go check on the cave's status. See if Sergeant Rei's men are done clearing the entrance. If they are, relieve them of their duties and send them back to camp."

Nu nodded. "Sir!" He saluted and turned to leave the tent.

"Oh, and, sergeant," Tenjo continued. Nu turned back to face his superior. "Be vigilant." Nu nodded again. "Dismissed." The soldier was gone.

"Lieutenant Li," Tenjo turned back to the redheaded liaison officer, "let's go have a chat with the natives about appropriate contract negotiations."

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"Nasty," Gojyo grumbled, holding his nose as he sloshed through the swamp. "The reek's familiar, and the muddy shit's back, but are you sure this is the right way? I mean, the sun's starting to go down and all. Shouldn't we have gotten there by now?" His right foot slid treacherously out from under him again, and he latched onto the nearest tree. This terrain was fucking hell on a recovering leg injury.

Sanzo turned and sloshed back toward the panting water sprite. "If you're so smart, then, by all means, _you_ lead the way."

Gojyo grinned disarmingly. "Nah, couldn't see a thing last night. Except your ass, of course." Sanzo loomed dangerously close, his eyes hooded. "Very nice ass, too," Gojyo continued with relish.

The blond priest seized Gojyo's chin. "I'm warning you," he hissed, glaring, nose inches from the redhead's. Gojyo's grin relaxed as he leaned forward just far enough so their noses touched. A challenge. For a breathless moment, calm scarlet eyes stared frankly into startled violet depths. So? Whatcha gonna do now? No fooling. Cards on the table.

Sanzo's brow furrowed. He hesitated, searching eyes flicking over the face violating his personal space, then backed away as if scalded, his eyes flashing. "Right. That's it. You're going first. Put your fucking antennae to good use for once." His Holiness still looked a bit off balance, his face cycling through unreadable contortions, but his imperious finger wasn't wavering at all as it pointed into the distance. Back off.

Gojyo's eyes fluttered briefly, and a smug smile slipped back into place. Right. 'Kay then. He pushed away from the tree and slogged forward, passing the wary violet stare. One small step for the incredibly long-legged Sha Gojyo, one giant leap for His Iciness. No violence. Definitely an improvement, although maybe a bit of wrestling was exactly what was called for about now. Shrug.

The water sprite forged ahead into the great unknown with a confident swagger. They'd get where they were going when they got there.

An hour or so later, Gojyo had given up deliberately swinging his hips as he walked. Sanzo had been silent since they'd switched places. Apparently, his ass wasn't as attractive as The Lord High Blond Bombshell's. Nah. Couldn't be. He actually worked out. Blondie was just blind. Meh. Priesty-boy's loss.

Gojyo winced as a sharp shape once again jabbed into his useless army-issue socks. Noting the presence of a convenient rock outcropping, he stopped and flopped down onto it. "Rock in my shoe," he announced, and glanced back at the priest, who had caught up to him and was now leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed and head turned pointedly away. The light really was fading fast. Gojyo could barely make out the symbols on the ever-present sutra. Lowering his eyes, he focused on the filthy boot perched in his lap. Ugh.

The priest's stomach growled. Gojyo's head rose from its unenthusiastic examination of his boot laces. Blondie was trying to pretend he didn't know any stomachs, and, if he did, they certainly weren't his. "Wanna snack?"

Violet eyes regarded him with suspicion. "You _have_ food?" he asked accusingly, as if Gojyo had been withholding this whole time.

"Yeah," the redhead answered, digging through his pockets. "I was saving it for monkey-boy, but ... Ah! Here ya go." He withdrew two foil packets. "What'll it be? Pretzels or trail mix?" He grinned and waved the two packets invitingly.

Sanzo stalked over and grabbed both. "Hey! Can't I have one?" Gojyo protested, reaching out to snatch one back.

"No." Sanzo stepped out of range. The bastard could be really cold sometimes. It was hardly Gojyo's fault they were lost. "One of them's for Goku. You've had yours."

Irritation warred with amusement on Gojyo's face as he sat on the rock, muddy boot lying across his thigh. The sight of His Holiness popping open a foil packet of pretzels and shoving an entire handful in his mouth, however, decided it. The kappa's shoulders started shaking with repressed laughter. The bastard really was starving ... and oblivious. He hadn't looked up once since opening the packet.

In the interests of conserving ammunition, Gojyo clamped a hand over his mouth until the urge passed. Dragging his attention back to his boot, he started untying and loosening the slimy laces. He'd gotten the muddy boot off and was shaking it to get rid of the offending rock when he noticed a glistening thread swaying in his peripheral vision. Immediately alert, Gojyo tensed and conjured his shakujou, still holding the heel of his boot in the other hand.

Eyes darting around, Gojyo caught a stray gleam reflecting off a shiny surface. He focused in on the area and recognized the object as a jointed black leg. It was hanging from a branch directly above Sanzo's head. "Move it, Sanzo!" Gojyo yelled, and dove for the startled priest.

The two foil packets, one mostly empty and the other untouched, dropped immediately. The blond's hand had just pulled the pistol free when his whole body was thrown off balance by a heavy weight colliding with it and driving it into the muck.

An angry hiss sounded from the vicinity of Gojyo's exposed right ankle as the spider's head whipped around to face them. Shit. Through the red fringe of his hair, Gojyo could see that the fucking monster's body was over five feet long. And it was wicked fast. It had missed pinning Sanzo under it by a hair's breadth. Before either of them could move, the long, deadly legs had already cut off their escape routes to either side as the monstrosity hovered over the mud-splattered figures.

Sanzo's elbow connected solidly with Gojyo's gut above him as he shoved the water sprite out of his way and brought his pistol to bear on the translucent eyes hovering over them. He fired once, twice, deadly accuracy causing an eye to go dark with each shot. Before he could fire again, though, the spider's body had leapt aside and was perching in a tree once again, its shiny black segmented legs tapping ominously on the branches.

Gojyo rolled away from the priest and onto his feet, panting and clutching his stomach with one hand and his shakujou with the other, boot long forgotten. "You bastard," he hissed, glaring up into the trees at the hovering arachnid. "What the hell do you want!?"

Sanzo was standing next to him, dripping slimy muck from head to toe, but his pistol was aimed directly at the hovering spider. No fucking way was he letting it out of his sight.

Ooze dripped from two of the spider's eight eyes. Its fangs clicked together sharply. "Hand over the scripture, human," it hissed in a deep, reverberating voice.

Sanzo's eyes narrowed, and he resisted the urge to wipe the muck off the side of his face, even though it was now trickling down his neck and seeping under his black leather undershirt. "Go to hell," he ground out. "If you want it, come pry it out of my cold, dead hands."

Gojyo's shakujou was raised, and his eyes were darting around the clearing, noting with unease that he could barely make out wisping strands of silken thread hanging from most branches. He edged around to the other side of Sanzo, away from the trees, and earned a fierce glare for his trouble.

The spider's voice was rumbling again. "Hand over the scripture, or your minion dies."

Sanzo's eyes darted toward Gojyo, and then back to the spider. "Do as you like," he growled. The water sprite could damn well take care of himself.

"Not that one." The spider's fangs clicked in impatience. "The little one. The one that's always hungry."

Gojyo's eyes narrowed in fury. "Yeah? You've seen 'im, eh? I'll bet he's REAL hungry by now. I wouldn't go near 'im if I were you." He clutched his shakujou tighter and forced himself to wait for the spider to come back within range.

"No deal." Sanzo's fierce growl rang through the clearing. Gojyo could see that his knuckles were white as they clutched his pistol. Hoooh boy, priesty-boy was piiiissssed. Nobody messed with his monkey and lived. Except Gojyo, a small voice in the back of his head commented irrelevantly.

A hiss of acknowledgment was their only warning before the monstrosity was once again airborne. It sailed clear over their heads, strange red markings on its abdomen and a silvery trail of thread flashing by as Sanzo fired off two more shots. Neither one managed to connect with a target. Gojyo turned, tracking the spider's flight, and let his shakujou fly. The blade sliced cleanly through the air until it ran out of chain and landed with an ominous splash, its wicked curve planted firmly in the swamp. Frustrated and impatient, Gojyo yanked the blade back out and straightened again to meet the anticipated attack.

The spider was now perched above one of the many dangling threads hanging nearby. Like a fucking trapeze artist. And, Gojyo noted with shock, Sanzo was being dragged backward toward it, a sticky gray thread wrapped around his neck. The priest's face was red, his mouth was wide open in a strangled gasp, and both of his hands were clutched around his straining neck, straining to tear the thread loose.

"You _will_ give it to me, human!" the spider hissed. "But first you will beg for mercy!" Apparently, the freak took the damage to its eyes personally.

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Goku twitched, violently. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. His head was throbbing in an uneven, staccato rhythm, and his nerves were on fire. Breakfast! He must be late. Sanzo wouldn't leave without him, would he? His whole body convulsed, straining against the confining bindings cutting into him and stinging as they clung to his unprotected arms and neck. No! He didn't want to be alone. Sanzo! Wait, Sanzo!

In a burst of unfettered panic, lightning crackled throughout Goku's small frame, bursting out in a flash that obliterated the restraints holding him back. Suddenly, Goku found himself falling, falling, wind rushing past his face. His eyes flew open. In the blurry darkness, he could make out a dark blob scuttling across the deeply shadowed space below him. Clumsily conjuring his nyoi-bou—why were his limbs so stiff?—he extended it and aimed it at the ground, vaguely registering that he needed to get out of here, and fast. Sanzo was going to leave without him! A loud squelching sound, followed by rapid, uncoordinated clacking, accompanied his pole-vault descent to the slimy muck below.

He landed, face-first, in an undignified heap—damn, he hoped this stiffness was only temporary, he was in a hurry—but he was up again in a flash and stumbling through the muck as fast as his tingling, uncooperative legs would carry him. Don't leave, Sanzo! Don't leave!

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Gojyo's blade swished out again, this time connecting. It sliced cleanly through the thread, but he'd had to jerk extra hard on the chain, and the effort had left him panting, clutching his shakujou and using it as a temporary crutch. Damn, that shit had been tough. He slogged forward to where the priest was still lying on his back, making desperate wheezing sounds and clawing at the unyielding strands of silk.

"Let's see you try that again," Gojyo growled as he stood between the priest and the crouching arachnid, but he knew he was too angry, and his right leg was wobbling underneath him. If only he were wearing both boots. That, at least, would have been something. He swiped a swath of muck off his face and tried for a defiant leer.

"Get out of the way, little brother," the spider hissed as it leapt into a closer tree, one standing just off to Gojyo's left.

Gojyo sloshed around so he was once again blocking the spider's access to the gasping priest. "Fuck off, you sonuvabitch! If you're afraid of me, just say so!" Just a little bit closer. Come on, just a bit closer, and I can nail your ass, you overgrown toad bait.

"Geheh." Sanzo's strangled struggles were becoming weaker. Gojyo could tell because there were fewer splashes now. Sweat ran down the back of his neck, and his hair hung in muddy clumps around his face. Come on, Mr. Indestructible. Just hang in there. He shifted his weight, listened to a couple more weak gurgles from the priest behind him, and decided to rush the tree. The eight-legged wonder looked like it was just gonna wait it out, and Gojyo was running out of time.

Coiled like a spring, he leapt at the tree, weapon raised. Two bounds forward, one foot already planted on the tree's trunk, he was just about to release his weapon, eyes fixed on his target, when it vanished and a dark shadow passed over his head. "SHIIIIT!" Gojyo yelled, face contorted with rage, and spun, launching himself off the trunk as he leapt back toward the exposed priest.

Everything suddenly slowed down and acquired a red tinge. His hair was taking forever to move past his eyes, but he could see the form in front of him well enough to make out the exposed abdomen. His arms swung on autopilot, and the wicked blade curved out in a deadly arc, burying itself deep in the spider's ungainly backside. A strangled hiss accompanied frenzied twitching of impossibly long, jointed limbs. Gotcha, Gojyo thought distantly as he yanked on the chain, throwing all his weight into it. He fell backward, heels digging in, but he didn't let go of the chain, so he knew the bastard was moving too.

A shot rang out, then another, from Sanzo's direction, but Gojyo didn't even pause as he leapt onto the spider's back and yanked his blade free once again, this time aiming for the closest front foreleg. No way the bastard was going to lay one claw on his Sanzo! The blade sliced through a joint in the leg with a loud, sickening snick. He was twisting around to aim for the other foreleg when the body under him reared and tossed him off the back. By the time Gojyo had regained his feet, the spider was nowhere to be seen, and the world had sped back up enough that he could hear his own ragged breathing.

Wild red eyes homed in on the haphazard pile of robes splayed in the mud. Legs sliding out from under him, Gojyo landed with a splash on his knees at the priest's side. The body lying next to him was unnaturally still.

With infinite care, Gojyo raised his curved blade and dragged it over the sticky thread still wound around the blond's neck. "Please please please be okay you royal fucking bastard what the hell would I do without you don't you dare leave me."

On his third attempt, the thread parted. With terrified, impatient, trembling hands, Gojyo tore the thread away and tossed it behind him into the swamp. He yanked the priest's torso out of the slime and pressed his head to Sanzo's heart, listening intently for that distinctive thump-thump that meant the bastard was still indestructible as ever. After a couple of confused seconds, in which Gojyo wasn't sure he could hear anything over his own panicked breathing, he collapsed forward in relief as he felt the chest under his head move.

"Get ... the hell ... off! Can't ... breathe ..." The gasped, hoarse pants were nearly inaudible, but Gojyo immediately raised his head and stared at the limp blond head that was lolling forward. A weak hand, still reflexively clutching a muddy pistol, swatted the redhead away as Sanzo choked and bent farther forward. That was when Gojyo realized that the front of Sanzo's robe was actually getting damper. Oh damn. He leaned closer to get a better look, still supporting Sanzo's back with one arm, and saw that one shoulder of the muddy robes was glistening with a dark liquid that was dripping down both their sides now.

Despairingly, Gojyo examined both his clothes and Sanzo's, only to confirm that neither of them had a square inch of clean cloth to his name. At least Sanzo's scripture was still intact. It suddenly struck him that it was odd, really, that the scripture never managed to get dirty or wrinkled despite all their traveling. Shrugging and chalking it up to the sutra's inherent holiness or some such bullshit, Gojyo thought it was a shame it hadn't also protected Blondie's shoulder. Now the bastard was going to be cranky, on top of everything else.

"Nnnn, move it!" Sanzo finally managed to free himself, one-handed because it hurt to move his other arm, from the cloying embrace of the world's biggest flirt by flattening the idiot's irritatingly springy red antennae with the butt of his pistol.

The priest flopped back toward the swamp when Gojyo let go to clutch his throbbing head, but he managed to heave himself to his knees by rolling onto his good side. Once he shoved himself to his feet, he had to pause because the world had taken to spinning. Sanzo glared.

Yup, the ungrateful bastard was cranky, and Gojyo was taking the lumps, as usual. Gojyo shoved himself to his feet and ran a hand through his wet hair, sliding it back out of his face. A dull red lump was forming on the heaving kappa's forehead. The flashing red eyes were closed, and Sanzo felt oddly bereft. After a couple more ragged breaths, Gojyo's eyes flew open, and he grinned smugly. "I love you too, Sanzo-chan."

"In your fucking dreams," Sanzo growled, and fished clumsily for his fan. Damn, he hated it when the bastard messed with him. Why the hell couldn't he leave him alone already? Sha Gojyo, ladies' man, would laugh his ass off if the uptight priest showed even a glimmering of interest. Worst of all, Sanzo always felt oddly competitive around the damn cockroach, driven by the need to prove he didn't need him. Fuck! He couldn't find the blasted fan one-handed, and he sure as hell wasn't letting go of his pistol.

"If you say so." Gojyo's grin evolved into a smirk before he turned, slogged back over toward the protruding rock, and started digging around in the muck next to it. The soaked army-issue trousers were clinging in entirely indecent ways to the curves that nature had so foolishly bestowed upon him.

Sanzo's eyes flicked away impatiently. Focus. He glanced down at his pistol. It was dripping with gelatinous spider ooze and muddy slime. He glanced back at the kappa, who was now on his knees in the muck, muttering to himself. Damn. Not a clean square inch to wipe his pistol off on. Inconsiderate bastard. Reluctantly, and with great distaste, Sanzo bent over and gingerly sloshed the gun in a shallow pool that looked relatively undisturbed by recent events. Not good, but it'd have to do. He needed to reload anyway.

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After the first shot had rung out, the guards on duty at the cave's mouth had sent word to Sergeant Nu. After a brief conference, word had been sent back to camp, and Sergeant Nu had set off with Private Shin to investigate, leaving the burly and dependable Private Rin in charge of the men stationed at the cave's entrance.

As they sloshed through the dusk, Nu kept his reservations to himself. He didn't think it was likely that the blasted youkai had stolen a rifle, but what if they had? No patrols should have been in this sector, other than his. Part of him whispered that this was the perfect trap, and, since the deadly poisonous bastards seemed to specialize in divide-and-conquer tactics, they could be playing right into their hands ... jaws ... whatever. But if the shots had been fired by a soldier who'd been isolated and probably was in need of assistance, he couldn't bear to abandon the man to his fate. So far, four shots had been fired, so they'd managed to get a fairly decent idea of the general direction.

Just when Sergeant Nu was getting ready to turn around, he heard another two shots. Well, that was a fairly odd firing pattern. Maybe it was too convenient, but it could also mean that the soldier was still alive and was signaling for assistance. Whatever it was, it was nearby. He dodged off to the left and picked up his pace, Private Shin splashing along by his side. They gripped their weapons tightly, and Sergeant Nu kept glancing from side to side, and, occasionally, above.

Just as they were winding around a particularly dense stand of trees, Nu thought he heard rustling. He jerked his rifle to his shoulder, and spun to track the motion. Shin sloshed a couple more steps before he also stopped and took up a defensive position with his back to a tree. After a few breathless minutes of waiting, Nu decided he'd been imagining it. He'd thought he'd caught a darker patch of shadow flitting through the trees, but it must have been a trick of the light. Everyone was on edge these days. Reluctantly, he lowered his weapon and gestured to Shin to follow.

Five minutes later, they were stunned by what they saw before them. Two grown men appeared to be involved in a shoving match and completely oblivious to their surroundings. After a couple of minutes of open-mouthed shock, Nu identified the voices as belonging to the two travelers they'd detained earlier.

"Just let me fucking tie it up, you stubborn SOB!" A hand darted out to touch the other's shoulder. The offending hand was deflected by an elbow, and a gun was shoved in the first guy's face. "Oh, whatever! It's not even loaded."

The long-haired one—Gojyo, if Nu remembered correctly—ducked a vicious swing. "It's fine. Get the hell away from me." The growl sounded more irritable than threatening, somehow.

When the robed one tried to leave again, Gojyo danced after him, brandishing what appeared to be an extremely filthy army-issue boot. So much for Rei's spare boots. "If we don't put pressure on it, you'll lose more blood, you git! What're you gonna do if it comes back? Bleed on it!?" The two springy bangs bounced emphatically in the fitful moonlight.

Nu sighed, partly from relief and partly in confusion. That gun didn't look standard-issue. Where the hell had the robed fellow gotten it? Oh, well. It looked like the sort that was meant to be concealed. He'd have to speak to Li about her soldiers' sloppy work. He cleared his throat loudly and rather pointedly.

Both figures swung, frowning, toward him, and a long pole with a vicious curved blade appeared in Gojyo's hands. Whoa. Nu could have sworn that hadn't been there before. After a tense, awkward pause, the blade lowered and vanished. "Oh, hey, Noodle-boy. How's it going?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Yikes! This chapter kinda grew legs and became a moving target, but, well, it's done. In other news, I might have fanart soon on my Livejournal account. My sister is such a sweetie.

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"Watch out, he does bite," Gojyo called cheerfully over his shoulder. Private Shin grimaced as he dragged the med kit out of his pack, eyeing the scowling, mud-covered man seated on the rock. He kind of wished the guy would stop clutching the damn gun, especially since his own rifle was currently perched precariously under the guy's filthy sandal. He so wasn't getting paid enough for this.

Sergeant Nu, however, was completely unsympathetic. He was far too engrossed in studying the segmented monstrosity half-buried in the swamp. The loud one had claimed it was a spider leg, but Shin was dubious. The thing had to be at least seven feet long. He didn't even want to contemplate what a spider that size would look like, fully assembled. Of course, with his luck, he'd be the one who ended up carrying it back with them, like some bizarre trophy. Being a peon sucked. A loud click rang out, disturbingly close. His eyes slid to the metal pressing firmly against his right cheek.

"Watch what you're doing." Vivid violet eyes were staring straight at him. He looked down. The dressing was a mess. He hurriedly unwrapped it and started over. Damn. This really sucked. And who the hell wore black leather tunics and armbands, anyway?

"So, what did you say you used to slice this off with?" Sergeant Nu was crouched next to the spider leg and looking directly up at the slouching redhead. The guy had managed to light himself a cigarette. He blew a puff of smoke into Nu's upturned face.

"Oh, you mean this?" The wickedly curved pole reappeared in Gojyo's unoccupied hand. He waved it around casually in Nu's cautious face. The weapon vanished again. "Pretty cool, eh? Convenient too."

"How does it work?" The sergeant was straightening warily, not breaking eye contact with the figure leaning against the tree trunk.

"Nuh-uh. That would be telling, wouldn't it?" Gojyo tapped his nose, a deceptively friendly smile stretching across his handsome features. "Much less cool that way." He scrubbed his grimy boot against the tree trunk and swung his arm around Nu's shoulder companionably. Sanzo twitched, causing Shin to flinch, and glared harder, his eyes tracking their movement. "Now, you wouldn't happen to know where these buggers live, would you? See, this one," he waved his boot negligently at the dismembered leg, "claimed he knew where our friend was, but he kinda left in a hurry."

Gojyo's vivid red eyes were fixed on Nu's, as if they could see right through him. Feeling pressured and vaguely uneasy, Nu moved away. Gojyo let his arm drop without resistance, his thumb hooking itself back in his borrowed belt loop.

Nu shook his head firmly. "Nope. Not a clue. They specialize in isolation tactics. Nobody's ever seen one and lived before." He glanced at his watch. He'd been gone for close to thirty minutes. Time to get back. "Look, I've got to get back to my post. The mine was attacked again, and I'd rather not leave my men any longer than I have to."

Sanzo slogged over to the two figures, leaving Shin to rescue his abused rifle. "We're coming with you," he announced, then spun his pistol's cartridge. Luckily, the bumbling idiot who'd patched him up had had a few useful items in his pack, including extra ammunition.

Gojyo frowned and glanced over at the filthy and bandaged priest. There were still angry red marks gouged into the man's neck. He shook his head and shoved away from the tree again. "What he said." Gojyo jerked his thumb at Sanzo and grinned encouragingly at Noodles.

Sergeant Nu paused, considering, and then nodded. If they could fight off these giant spiders, they'd make valuable allies. Besides, it was unlikely that he could shake them off, even if he tried. "Right, Shin, let's move." Shin straightened from checking the cocking mechanism on his rifle and saluted. As Nu turned, nestling his own firearm in the crook of his arm, he called over his shoulder,"Bring the leg." Shin deflated and glared at the jointed appendage as he bent to sling it over his shoulder. He really hated his life.

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After a tense fifteen minutes of travel, during which Gojyo casually raided the harried private's backpack and Sanzo scowled at everyone indiscriminately, they arrived back at the cave's entrance.

Gojyo crunched loudly as he chewed the last bite of the apple he'd appropriated, and then, aiming carefully, chucked the core at a distant clump of vegetation. When it collided with the leaves with a satisfying rustle and then vanished from view below the swamp's surface, Gojyo turned and grinned at Sanzo. The bastard was entirely too smug ... and irritatingly mesmerizing.

The redhead refused to be daunted by the withering look he received. He turned back to Nu. "Nice digs, Ramen-chan, but the neighbors are a bit shady, don't you think? Annnd," he yanked at some overhanging vines around the cave's entrance, "it looks like it's got some mature weeds, here. Bit of a fixer-upper all 'round."

Sanzo rolled his eyes as he ducked under Gojyo's arm and passed through the cave's entrance. The kappa was nothing without an audience. And Sanzo didn't have the patience to humor him right now, especially when he was shamelessly turning up the charm for these uniformed thugs. What the hell was his problem, anyway, swarming all over Sanzo one minute and then slinging his arm around uniformed thugs the next? Maybe the roach had a uniform kink. Sanzo glanced down at his own ruined robes.

The soldiers at the entrance bristled and demanded an explanation, but the sergeant called them off. Arms crossed, and shoulders hunched to avoid hitting his head, Sanzo surveyed the interior of the cave. It wasn't much to look at, even with the flickering torch burning in a discrete nook of the main entrance chamber, such as it was. There were some roughly hewn support beams stationed at each of the two tunnels leading off from the main chamber, but boulders were scattered throughout, mostly larger ones, and it looked as though a recent rockfall had occurred immediately above the cave's entrance. It was just as well that Sanzo wasn't claustrophobic because all this looked rather shady and decidedly unstable.

Turning swiftly on his heels, Sanzo confronted the meaningless babble that had been carrying on behind his back while he'd been more productively occupied. Was the kappa _still_ at it? "Where do those tunnels lead?" he demanded, cutting across the cockroach's attempt at bartering for something or other, possibly the unfortunate thug's virginity. Sanzo shifted uncomfortably and scowled. At least now he had the lust-addled bastard's attention.

Sergeant Nu, who had confirmed that his men were, in fact, still all accounted for, turned to face the imperious, mud-streaked blond. Even in his ruined robes and bent over to fit into the small space, the man still commanded respect. Again, Nu wondered who and what the hell these two "travelers" were. Regardless, he pitied their superiors ... and their subordinates, if they had any. Sighing, he scratched the back of his head and gestured to the tunnel on the right. "That one leads to the main excavation chambers." He swung his hand off to the left tunnel. "And that one is the return, where the mined materials and debris are carried out to be processed or dumped." His hand dropped. He was exhausted and overworked, and he just wanted to sit down for five minutes, so he did. Heavily. "That's about as much as I know. The villagers pretty much discouraged exploration. I don't think they trusted us." He mumbled into his hand, which was now holding up the right side of his face, "And they certainly don't now." He lifted his head again and continued in a louder voice, "According to the miners, the older passages are no longer safe, especially if you don't know your way around."

Sanzo's eyes narrowed. Perfect. "These older passages. Do any of them lead to the surface?"

"Maybe. ... Sorry. I couldn't tell you." Nu leaned back against the cave wall and shut his eyes briefly. The messenger had come back from camp while they'd been gone, and the news hadn't been encouraging. Nevertheless, Nu had sent Shin and Rin back to camp with the grisly trophy of their investigation. He needed backup and direct orders before he could carry things any further on his end, and Tenjo would need concrete evidence before he could lay out a reasonable plan of action. For now, Nu was just hoping to survive the night with all his men intact.

"Hang on, I thought we were supposed to avoid the older passages," Gojyo cut in suspiciously. He had a nasty feeling he wasn't going to like this. Sanzo glared at him impatiently. Yup. He definitely wasn't gonna like this.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," the priest grumbled, exasperated. He strode over to tap his pistol against the kappa's empty skull, just to prove his point. It sounded decidedly hollow. Also, the hurt and irritated expression on the redhead's face was intensely satisfying. That's right. Pay attention to me, and stop the hell flirting with everything that has legs! "How the hell do you think the spider bastards are getting in and out of the caves without being spotted?!" Realization dawned in the widening red eyes. "Exactly!" He seized the kappa's ear and started dragging him toward the right-hand tunnel. They had to pick one or the other, and the right one looked larger. There was no need to get boxed in right away. "Let's go."

"Owwww! Let go, dammit! I'm coming already." Gojyo's face twisted into a grimace of discomfort as he was half-dragged through the arch of the tunnel. After they'd turned the first corner, Sanzo abruptly released the struggling kappa. "Che! What the hell, Sanzo!? That bloody hurt!" He rubbed his throbbing ear indignantly, partly to reassure himself that it was, in fact, still attached.

"Keep up or get left behind," Sanzo tossed over his shoulder as he navigated the idiosyncrasies of the passageway, ducking and turning as necessary.

Gojyo's eyes narrowed. He was pretty sure that little performance with the ear had been designed to get his attention, but he was damned if he knew why. Dragging his left arm across his body with his right arm, he popped his shoulder and resigned himself to the inevitability of back pain for the foreseeable future. Hunching over uncomfortably, height could be a disadvantage sometimes, he shuffled rapidly along after the priest, who was only really identifiable in this pitch-dark tunnel because he'd lit a candle. The clever bastard had probably pinched it from that flunky earlier.

The passage definitely had sections in which Gojyo felt decidedly claustrophobic, especially because he wasn't as compact as a certain maddening priest, but then there were sections where the lack of visible boundaries around him made him feel even more uneasy. Apparently, the miners had taken advantage of natural cave formations whenever possible, thereby reducing the amount of rock they had to remove themselves. Eventually, after he'd shimmied through the second shaft that had dug into his ribs and pulled his hair, he tugged firmly on the priest's robes, forcing him to halt.

"Hold up," Gojyo panted, catching his breath. The air was definitely thinner down here. "What the hell are we looking for here, exactly?" His right leg was throbbing again, and, much as he hated to admit it, he had been having trouble keeping up. His Holiness was remarkably intense and tenacious when he made a decision, the stubborn git.

Sanzo's vivid eyes flashed in the flickering candlelight as he turned to face Gojyo. Dried blood mixed with fresher patches soaking through the bandage on the priest's shoulder, and his robe had long since been slipped off his shoulders to offset the oppressive heat. Sanzo stared measuringly at the redhead hunched over in front of him. His intense violet eyes still fixed on Gojyo, he lifted his candle higher, so that it illuminated the curve of rock above them in the narrow passageway. "Spiders," he answered.

Gojyo's eyes felt strangely heavy as he dragged them up and away, where they darted back and forth before settling inexorably on a thin, but unmistakable, stream of tiny spiders scampering along the uneven rock overhead. They were only visible for a minute or two before they had all, as a group, ducked back into the safety of the shadows. Gojyo's eyes fell back to the strands of muddy blond hair in front of him. He could feel that his face was frozen into an odd mixture of surprise and disgust. "R-right. That's not creepy at all." Damn, those creepy little buggers had been crawling along next to him all this time and he hadn't noticed? He glanced down at himself, checking to be sure they weren't actually crawling _on_ him. That would be really nasty.

After a cursory glance failed to reveal any movement on his filthy army fatigues, Gojyo forced a sloppy grin onto his face. "So, we're following the bitty spiders, eh?" He shrugged, forcing himself not to imagine tiny clawed feet crawling all over his skin. "Works for me."

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When the trail of spiders had split into two groups, Sanzo had taken the right branch, and Gojyo had reluctantly taken the left branch. Gojyo blew his stiff bangs out of his face. The mud was starting to flake off his nose, and he ached all over. He felt uneasy about this whole setup, and not just because he couldn't ogle Sanzo's muscular, black leather–clad back twisting and flexing in front of him anymore. Gojyo shook his head to clear the mental image and drew in a long drag from his cigarette. Leaning forward to retrieve the flickering candle perched in a nearby crevice, Gojyo rolled awkwardly to his feet. The path had narrowed once again, and he'd had to periodically dodge puddles and rotted wooden beams.

Stumbling along, worn down by fatigue, and eyes fixed in unfocused determination on the thin line of spiders that flitted in and out of the edges of the candle's glow, Gojyo suddenly found himself falling downward as the ground gave out beneath his feet. His arms flew out automatically to steady himself and brace his descent. His fingers tingled as they clung to thick, rope-like strands that were suddenly everywhere, stinging and clinging.

Shocked fully alert, Gojyo struggled in the tangled, disorganized mass of vaguely shimmering strands all around him. The candle was nowhere to be seen, lost to the depths below him, but a stray shaft of moonlight did vaguely illuminate his surroundings, enough to assure him that this space was much larger than the passage he'd been traveling along earlier. "Shit!" Gojyo growled as he conjured his shakujou and twisted in place, dangling like a puppet.

The muffled sounds of sobbing and hissing below him alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone in here. Straining forward and leaning against the strand strung across his stomach, Gojyo searched for the sources of the noises. He could just make out two small, twitching silvery cocoons off to the left. The hissing, however, seemed to be coming from the dark mass vibrating directly below him. Ah-ha! The blasted thing had eight opalescent eyes.

"Hey! Hey, you!" Gojyo coughed as one of the strands dug into his neck as he leaned farther forward. "You seen a chimp 'bout this big!?" He gestured awkwardly with his hands as he swung back and forth. The long, dark legs flashed menacingly as the spider scaled the strands rapidly, abandoning whatever it had been hovering over earlier. Suddenly, Gojyo's nose was inches from those hideous rows of milky eyes. "One of your buddies said he'd seen 'im around," Gojyo continued gamely as he swiftly and awkwardly began sawing through the strand holding his right hand in place.

The disconcerting, lidless eyes continued to examine him, and the wicked, long legs splayed out on either side of him. Gojyo stared right back at the spider, choosing to focus on the nearest set of eyes for convenience, and grinned grimly. "What's wrong, big guy?" He cocked his head to the side, eyeing his opponent for possible vulnerabilities. The reddish pattern on the spider's underside looked disturbingly familiar. He had a nagging feeling he should recognize the dot-crescent combination. Tearing his eyes away from the distracting puzzle, Gojyo returned his gaze to the vicious, curved fangs that were twitching less than a foot away from his face.

"Look, bud, I've had a really shitty day so far, so if you could just pick up the pace a bit, I'd appreciate it." Gojyo's wrist ached from maintaining its awkward position as it sawed, but he could feel the strand weakening. "See, I've got this really temperamental boyfriend who hates to be kept," tug, saw, "waiting and all."

Just as Gojyo felt the last strand part and swung his shakujou around, the spider's body jerked back and landed on what appeared to be the cavern's ceiling. Great. Now what? A terrified squeal from one of the two cocoons below him distracted Gojyo from his contemplation of which strand to slice next. The cry was quickly cut off by another voice making desperate shushing noises. Terrified, labored breathing from the two quivering cocoons filled the sudden, consuming silence.

When he could catch his breath again, Gojyo's face contorted with rage. "KIDS!? You fucking tied up a couple of kids!? You unmitigated BASTARD!!" He twisted desperately in the restraining threads clinging to him. He knew he needed to calm down, but he couldn't. Rage filled him and drove him mad with the need to be free. Knowing that it couldn't reach, he released his shakujou anyway and watched it slice through the strands strung in front of him. The severed strands swayed gently, but the blade completely missed the vibrating spider crawling around on the rock formations overhead.

"Feeling protective, little brother?" The spider's hissing, whispering voice grated on every nerve in Gojyo's tense body. "Bring me the priest's sutra, and you can have the kids. But hurry." The spider's fangs clacked impatiently. "I'm getting hungry." The spider launched itself back at the tangle of strands and pinned the shakujou's pole with the claw of a long, shiny segmented leg, pinning the pole against the nearby rock face.

"You're no brother of mine, you damn asshole!" Gojyo panted, yanking on his shakujou to free it. "My brother likes little brats," he tugged harder on his weapon, "and not for a fucking SNACK!" Even as the words left his mouth, Gojyo hesitated. _Could_ this be Dokugakuji? No! His brother would never go this far, not even for Kougaiji.

The sharp, cold edges of the spider's body shimmered and coalesced, condensing into the figure of a man clad in a long, white robe, hands and feet braced against the webbing. "Wanna bet?" The face and voice were terribly familiar, and Gojyo stared, frozen, into the dark, unreadable eyes of his brother. He knew he should move, speak,_ do_ something, but he couldn't manage to tear his eyes away from the sight of the dot-crescent pattern tattooed across the nose and forehead of the face hovering inches from his own.

A shot rang out in the tense silence. A familiar voice growled, "Go to hell." Three more shots followed in quick succession, and, each time, a new red patch blossomed on the stunned, swaying figure before him. When the fourth shot made contact, his brother's body fluttered backward in a tumble of flowing cloth and landed with a dull, sickening thump on the cave floor below.

Sanzo was standing over the fallen corpse and prodding it with a sandal, his pistol still out and held at the ready. Gojyo felt stunned. He didn't know whether to feel betrayed or relieved. He knew, he _knew_ that crumpled pile wasn't his brother, but it _looked_ so much like him.

After a couple more experimental kicks, the blond raised his head so that fierce, impatient violet eyes stared directly into wide, confused red ones. "Hurry up and get the hell down here." Black, leather-clad arms crossed, and the blond's brows furrowed as a trail of smoke drifted away from the cigarette smashed between his lips. "You look ridiculous."

Gojyo's mouth fell open in indignation, and a wave of unexpected relief washed over him. "Thanks a lot, you bastard! You could fucking give me a hand!!" Gojyo jerked against the restraining threads, which caused him to unbalance. After a few seconds of frantic flailing, in which he nearly dropped his shakujou, he managed to regain an semi-upright position, but, by then, Sanzo had already moved over to the cowering cocoons in the corner.

Growling in frustration, Gojyo managed to stow his shakujou and retrieve the hunting knife he'd nicked earlier and stowed in his boot. Methodically, grumbling the whole time, he severed each thread holding him in place. It got a bit tricky toward the end, though, because he hadn't really thought through which thread to sever first. Finally, though, he managed to brace himself against a tangle of strands and leap, more or less gracefully, to the cave's floor. At least he'd landed on both feet.

Bending over the crumpled corpse, Gojyo shook his head, reminding himself that this wasn't his brother, no matter how viscerally it resembled him. Glancing over at the priest, who was still working on the first bundle, he had to hand it to the bastard. His Holiness really did have a flair for the dramatic. Sighing and stumbling somewhat, Gojyo made his way past the eddying trails of smaller spiders to lend a hand.

Crouching next to the priest, who flinched somewhat but continued working at the silvery strands with a wickedly sharp blade, Gojyo ruffled the second kid's hair. The little brat was shivering, probably in reaction more than anything else. Hopeful but guarded eyes met his, and he grinned reassuringly. "So, kid, what brings you here?" he asked as he slowly and carefully drew out his knife and began sawing through the constricting strands.

The kid flinched a bit, but he managed to choke out, "We're looking for our brother." His eyes flicked nervously over to the bundle next to him.

Gojyo's brow furrowed, and his eyes softened. "Yeah?" he asked gently as he pried a handful of strands away from the kid's chest. "And who's he?"

The kid squirmed a bit, trying to wriggle out of the confining bundle. Gojyo placed a restraining hand on the boy's chest. The last thing he wanted to do was cut the kid by mistake. The boy seemed to sense the meaning behind the gesture and lapsed docilely back into stillness.

"I'm Yun, and that's Wai." His eyes slid toward the other cocoon again. "Our brother was one of the miners clearing out the debris from the cave-in. He's even bigger than you!" The kid's voice swelled with pride, and Gojyo smiled indulgently as he worked. "But he never came back," Yun finished forlornly. "And then Dad said nobody was gonna look for him!" the boy continued angrily, stiffening. "He said enough people had lost their lives to the monsters, and he wasn't gonna let anyone else go near the caves."

The kid sniffled a bit, then continued. "Sho's friends didn't come back either! So, we had to get him back ourselves," he finished defiantly. "'Cause he's the only big brother we have!" The other kid, Wai, crawled over and hugged Yun's arm protectively, nodding fiercely in agreement.

Gojyo finished cutting through the last of the strands around Yun's feet and nodded in approval. "Well, I'm Sha Gojyo, and this here's a really crappy priest." He jerked his thumb in the general direction of Sanzo, who was sitting with his back turned away from the rest of them and puffing on his cigarette.

Sanzo turned around to glare. "Watch it, pea-brain. Who was it who saved your sorry ass?"

Gojyo smirked and flipped him the bird. "And I'm sooooo grateful, Your Highness." He rolled his eyes when Sanzo stood up and wandered back toward the tangled mass of threads. He turned back to ruffle both heads of hair next to him. The guy had all the social skills of a bull elephant. No wonder they locked him up in a monastery. "Sooooo, kids. Any ideas where your bro is now?"

Yun frowned, though it could have been because he had to blow his bangs out of his face. "He wouldn't have left without his friends, so he has to be here somewhere." The kid looked pretty skinny, but tough. A good kid.

"So you thought you'd just have a look around, then?" Gojyo asked, lighting a cigarette, leaning back against the cave wall, and staring up at the moonlight pouring down on them.

A smirk crossed the kid's face. "Yup. We know all the best routes. Those soldiers don't know nuthin'. They were guarding the main entrance, but there're dozens of bolt-holes, man. We snuck right past 'em, no probs." He jerked a cocky finger upward, toward the shaft of moonlight.

Gojyo cocked his head, a bit skeptical, but then he caught sight of a slim shadow dangling from the opening above them. "You shimmied down a rope, eh?" He grinned lazily and turned to regard the boy hunched next to him. "Good work."

Yun nodded, and Wai piped up. "The rope was my idea! It was dad's, but Yun said he'd never miss it 'cause he's a coward and he's not gonna go back to the caves till the soldiers leave."

Yun glowered at his little brother and bopped him on the head. "Shut UP!" he hissed. Gojyo's grin widened and he yawned lazily. Such cute little rascals. They kinda reminded him of Goku. ... Crap! Goku!! Gojyo's shoulders jerked as he bolted upright again, hands knotted in his lap. Where the hell could the little chimp _be?_

A small tussle had broken out, which Gojyo didn't feel inclined to interrupt. Sanzo seemed to have found something. Gojyo stood up and craned his head to see what Sanzo was up to.

"Well, that's what you said, so what's the big deal!? Besides, the rope _was_ my idea! You wanted to go clear around to the north vents, and that woulda taken _hours!"_ Wai sounded indignant.

"Hey, this one's alive. Is it yours?" Sanzo's voice cut across the boys' argument, and Gojyo loped across the cavern, dragging the two startled kids after him.

They stared down at the cocoon Sanzo had rolled away from the others. The guy's chest was barely moving, and there were dark splotches seeping through the bindings. Cautiously, Yun and Wai bent down to have a closer look. Sanzo was busy digging through the rest of the pile, most of which seemed to consist of dessicated husks. Gojyo winced and shot an angry glance back at the sprawled and bloody pile of robes. Fucking bastard got what he deserved. The water sprite's fists clenched as he saw a couple of smaller dessicated bundles.

"Pei! Pei! It's me!" Yun shook the unconscious man by the shoulders. When the man didn't respond, Yun shook him harder and Wai tried to pry his eyelids open. "Where's Sho!? Where is he?"

"Hey, easy there," Gojyo shot out a restraining hand and gently shoved the kids away. "Give the guy a chance." Whipping out his hunting knife again—really it was much more practical than the shakujou, which was much too large and awkward for delicate work like this—Gojyo set to work freeing the captive.

Wai just stared at the man's face, as if willing him to wake up and make everything okay again. Yun was a bit older and more restless. He turned to the discarded cocoons and froze for a second, processing what, in fact, they represented. After a brief shiver, though, he continued, carefully studying each one before laying it aside.

"Dammit!" Sanzo stood up abruptly and ruffled his fingers distractedly through his hair. "Where the hell is the little bastard!? I can't get him to leave me alone for five minutes together, and then he wanders off for two days!? What the hell!" A fierce series of smoke clouds rose above the messy, muddy blond bangs.

Gojyo sighed and sucked on the finger he'd managed to nick with the knife. Damn, but this shit was tough, and slippery, too. ... And tasted nasty. He yanked the finger back out of his mouth and glared at in disgust. "No monkey, eh?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the stillness of Yun's frame. "Ya got something there, kid?" He hated to ask. Really he did. But sometimes the awful truth was better than always wondering, never knowing for sure, one way or the other.

"Yeah." The kid's voice sounded stiff and cold, but deadly calm, resigned. Jarringly, it reminded Gojyo of Sanzo. Cutting through the last of Pei's bonds, the redhead slowly rose to his feet.

"Okay, then. I guess that means the search's over for you." He patted the boy's knotted shoulder. "Time to go home, yeah?"

Wai looked up with wide, frightened eyes, flicking from his brother's ramrod back to Gojyo's grim face. They fell quickly, though, along with his head. After a short, tense silence, in which Sanzo stared hard at the two boys, Wai looked up again, tears streaming silently down his face. "What about Pei? And Su?"

Yun turned around and faced his little brother. "Su's not coming back either."

Gojyo bent to lift the wounded man and lean him against his shoulders. "Lead the way, boys." He glanced sidelong at Sanzo, for confirmation.

"No," Sanzo grunted. "We're not done here yet." Gojyo's face screwed up in disbelief. How could the callous bastard abandon kids? Goku ... had been missing for two days now. And that wasn't like him. "They're plenty old enough to take care of themselves." Sanzo turned to Yun and awkwardly fished something shiny and metallic out of his back pocket. "Here." He shoved it into the kid's stiff hands. "You know how to use this?"

Yun stared numbly into Sanzo's eyes, and then nodded once, his eyes now fixed on the service revolver cradled in his hands. After a short silence, in which Gojyo had time to contemplate the very thorough raiding of Shin's backpack that had taken place, Yun's head rose again, and he confronted the blond standing before him. "You're really a priest?"

Sanzo glared back at the kid. "Yeah, so?" A stream of smoke wafted up past his narrowed eyes. "Don't flinch, or you won't make it, understand? If you shoot, shoot to kill. And don't miss."

Yun nodded again and gripped the revolver tightly in his right hand. Gojyo couldn't help but stare at the two of them for a moment. For some reason, he felt like he was witnessing something deeply private, a side of Sanzo he rarely showed the world. Priesty boy really was charismatic: unconventional, but undeniably compelling, which was probably why Gojyo would follow the prat through hell and back if the nutjob took it into his head to go there. That and the guy was hot as hell.

Turning away from the distracting sight of Sanzo sweating in his black leather armor, Gojyo caught Wai's eye and gestured to the rope. "Go grab that for me, will ya? We can use it to make a harness so you can drag this guy along with you."

Wai stared up at Gojyo, unmoving.

"You can't carry him up the rope, can you?"

Wai shook his head.

"And you know your way around, right?"

Wai nodded.

"Good. Go get the rope."

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"Think they're gonna be okay?" The aggravating redhead had to turn around and look over his shoulder. What the hell was he thinking? The terrain in this part of the cave system was terrible, and, when he turned his head like that, the flickering flame of the candle playing over his face and hair was ... distracting.

"For the hundredth time, they're going to be _fine,"_ Sanzo growled and gestured forward meaningfully with his gun. "They're older than I was when I left ..." Shit. Stupid candle. Sanzo's eyes narrowed.

The kappa, who'd almost turned his head back around, actually turned to face Sanzo at that and had the audacity to stare. "When you what?" he asked, his eyes flashing with curiosity.

Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! "When I left the temple for the first time," Sanzo answered gruffly. He reached out with his empty hand and seized Gojyo's chin to turn it in the right direction. "Now turn around and pay attention to where we're going."

He wasn't entirely sure he trusted the kid's directions, or their ability to remember the directions, but the passageways had been looking more dilapidated and ill-kempt the farther they'd gone, and the kid had said they were headed for the abandoned section, so they couldn't be too far off.

After the kappa had taken a couple of steps in the right direction, Sanzo felt he might actually have dodged the bullet, but then bastard stopped again and asked, without turning around, "Wait, is that when you got _your_ gun?"

Damn the perceptive roach's sixth sense for sniffing out the details of other people's personal lives. "Yes," Sanzo bit out. Take the damn hint and shut the hell up.

After a brief silence, there was a muffled snort and motion continued. Suspiciously, Sanzo narrowed his eyes, but he followed. With any luck, that would be the end of it.

"So that's why it's so small," Gojyo muttered under his breath. Sanzo glared at his pistol and contemplated his options. After wrestling with his pride for a couple of seconds, he opted to pretend he hadn't heard that. After all, the kappa was much more entertaining, really, when he was animated. Much more annoying, but also definitely more interesting.

Silence descended for a while as Gojyo limped along in front, pausing intermittently to examine their options. Sanzo swallowed his impatience. He could move much faster on his own, but that was part of the problem, really. Originally, he'd been the one holding the candle, but when he'd made a comment and not gotten a smart-aleck answer, he'd realized that the redhead had fallen too far behind to hear him. That was when he'd decided that it was better all around to keep the kappa where he could see him.

After an unusually long pause, Sanzo prodded the camo-clad back with his pistol. "What's the holdup?" It made him tense to be this close to another person, especially this particular person, and, when he was tense, he was grumpy, dammit.

"I think this is where we're supposed to turn."

"So turn, then!"

"We can't. It's collapsed."

Sanzo shoved the useless cockroach out of the way impatiently and stared at the mountain of rock that had slid down into the rough side passage, closing it off completely. "Fine, take the next turn, then."

Gojyo leaned into Sanzo's personal space, the candle's flame flickering between them. Most of the mud had dried and flaked off his face, but now there were dark streaks of rock powder mixed with some dried blood. "What if they don't intersect, Sanzo-chan?"

Before Sanzo could come up with a suitable retort, or, worse yet, suggest they actually turn back, the tunnel suddenly flooded with a dense white fog that the candle was doing nothing to repel. Peripherally, he registered the familiar whooshing sound of the shakujou materializing next to him as he jerked his pistol up and swung around, scanning for any hint of their attackers. Nothing. All he could see was a dense wall of white, no matter which way he turned.

Dimly, he could make out echoes, but he couldn't pinpoint which direction they were coming from. Subconsciously, Sanzo pressed his unarmed side against the solid, warm body next to his. He wanted to be damned sure he knew where his ally was. His shoulder ached and twinged. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Where were those footsteps coming from? Ahead? Behind? One of the side passages?

Suddenly, the echoing footsteps stopped. After an interminable wait, filled with suppressed ragged breathing and the kappa's racing heartbeat thudding against his shoulder, Sanzo was getting ready to suggest they start moving again. He shifted uncomfortably, taking a step away from the warm distraction at his side.

This small movement sparked an immediate reaction. A hail of bullets showered the rock next to Sanzo's head. "Fuck!" The shots were coming from behind them. He dove, dragging the kappa with him. Stumbling blindly along the rock wall, shoving the resisting redhead in front of him, Sanzo fired a couple of return shots, hoping at least one would connect with a target.

He felt his injured shoulder take a hit, and then a shot graze his right leg. "Move it, dammit!" he hissed as he shoved the uncooperative water sprite through the first opening he found in the tunnel wall. He was pretty sure the noisy prat was swearing, but he couldn't really hear anything over the ricochet of bullets.

After firing another couple of shots down the main corridor, he ducked into the side passage himself, hoping it would provide at least temporary cover until he could actually pick out a target. Without warning, his feet slid out from under him, and he was sliding, tumbling, scraping, falling, limbs flailing. He couldn't see a damn thing, and he couldn't orient himself at all or even do much to protect himself. Shit. He could feel rock sliding all around him. Just before everything went black, though, he thought he felt water filling his nostrils.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Aaack! Sorry for the long wait. I ... wanted this chapter to be perfect, but ... instead, it's this. ::hiding::

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"Oooh, so close!" Ni tossed the game controller onto the lab bench next to his perching bunny slippers and adjusted his glasses on the end of his nose. "Weren't we close, Bunny-chan?" He jiggled the stuffed animal caught in the crook of his arm and grinned at it before spinning away from the glowing monitor screen. 

His bunny slippers flapped incongruously as he shuffled through the darkened lab to hover behind the frowning Hwan. He slung a free arm around one of her shoulders and leaned his chin on the other. "Good work, Hwan-chan." When she didn't respond and continued to take notes on her clipboard, his arm slid lower and squeezed one of her cheeks through the white lab coat, causing her to stiffen and spin around.

"Y003 was very entertaining. Our prey escaped, of course, but it would be boring if it didn't, wouldn't it?"

Hwan had backed herself up against one of the containment chambers and was hugging her clipboard defensively against her chest. The chamber's greenish glow reflected off Ni's glasses, making it impossible to see the creepy bastard's eyes at all. He genius was indisputable, but so was his unpredictable, sociopathic nature.

A limp cigarette dangled between smirking lips. "I particularly liked those human rifles," Ni admitted as he tapped on Dokugakuji's tank, ignoring his assistant's angry scowl. "Delightfully effective, aren't they? Maybe I should have Y003 bring one back for me." He hummed off-key and scratched at his perpetual stubble as he wandered off to another lab bench, pausing to poke idly at a row of test tubes.

"But first," he announced, "I think we should start mass production of the Y003 model. The second hybridization with Kou-chan's sample seems to be much more stable." He hopped up onto a nearby stool and stared straight at Hwan, who had almost relaxed but now froze again. "Have a D002 model fetch one of the broken soldiers back for testing, though, just to be sure." He grinned insincerely and hopped down off the stool.

Twirling a scalpel idly, he thunked it experimentally into the draped corpse laid out on a metal cart against the far wall. "Mmm, a bit off," he announced petulantly. Yanking the offending scalpel back out, he stared at it a moment before tossing it back on the lab bench. Hwan leapt to prevent it from colliding with her carefully labeled test tubes. Catching it neatly, she placed it primly back in its case and straightened it against the corner of the lab bench.

"But what if Y003 starts asserting undesirable personality traits, like Y002?" she asked pointedly. Really, for a scientist, Dr. Ni was terribly arbitrary and sloppy. "The venom may have stabilized, but we still have no proof the conditioning—"

An abrupt series of thumps on the lab door cut her off. She compressed her lips together into a thin, disapproving line, and, when Ni made no move to answer the door, she huffed and, hating herself, shuffled over to see what the irritating barbarians wanted now.

A smirking youkai coughed pointedly when the heavy metal lab door slid open. "Lookin' good, sister," he commented, his disgusting tongue hanging half out of his mouth.

Her eyebrows rose. Here, at least, she could exert some authority. "I'm busy," she announced coldly and reached out to press the button that would reseal the lab.

The youkai frowned, his pointed ears twitching. He stuck a foot in the door and leaned in closer. Hwan's mouth twitched briefly as she considered closing the door anyway. "I've got a message," he growled menacingly, his pride wounded, "from _her ladyship."_ He emphasized the last bit to knock the icy human bitch down a notch or two and remind her who, exactly, was in charge here.

Hwan pinched her nose pointedly and twitched her head toward Ni, who was once again fiddling with the game controller. The youkai slipped past her, sneering, and announced, loudly, that Gyokumen Koushu wanted to see him in her chambers NOW. Ni smiled expansively and followed the youkai out docilely. Hwan shivered in revulsion as Ni tapped her on the shoulder as he passed. "Never question your superiors, Hwan-chan," he whispered. With a parting grin, he was gone, and the lab doors swished shut.

Seething with frustration, Hwan seized one of her ridiculous high heels and hurled it at the door's smooth, metallic surface.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

Oh, not a-fucking-gain. Gojyo felt that, really, he was thoroughly sick of caves and pits and not being able to see where the hell he was going. On some cosmic level, it was freaking hysterical, but Gojyo was so covered in bruises, scrapes, and cuts that he couldn't quite appreciate it just then. Somehow, he'd pissed off some bodhisattva or other, and karma had decided to gang-bang him. Maybe he'd slept with her and forgotten to call. The thought made him snort, and a wry smile stretched across his face.

Grunting softly as he repositioned himself to start the long, treacherous climb back up the tunnel from hell, he heard an ominous rumbling overhead that actually drowned out the sound of gunfire. Oh, shit! Gojyo scooted as far out of the way as he could, his rebroken leg screaming in protest as it was dragged along with him. Whatever the hell that sound was, it did not bode well.

Panting and wincing, his knees gingerly hugged to his chest, Gojyo prepared to be buried alive. After all, the dimensions of the shithole he'd fallen into roughly approximated that of the interior of the jeep, and that got claustrophobic enough, even with the scenery and the open top.

The rumbling built to a dull roar, and was accompanied by some splashing sounds, but, eventually, it tapered off. Cautiously, Gojyo dragged himself away from the wall to investigate his options. Well, he was still alive. That was something. The air was even staler than it had been before, but he could still breathe, and the splashing sounds might actually be a good sign. At least he wouldn't die of thirst. Probably.

As his hands blindly scrabbled over the piles of rock, they suddenly connected with something that had a decidedly different texture. He shivered and grabbed at it with both hands. Oh, yeah. He'd recognize that leather anywhere.

"Sanzo!" He tore at the rocks, shoving them away and tugging on the unmoving body buried beneath them. "Sanzo, you little shit, I know you can hear me!"

Dammit! He was furious with Sanzo for ignoring him and being so damn pushy, but who would have guessed the stupid bastard would dive right into this hellhole after him.

Finally, he managed to yank the priest's shoulders up a couple of inches, but he heard a solid thunk that was probably Sanzo's head hitting something. "Shit, he's gonna kill me for that!"

Grumbling, Gojyo leaned over farther, blood sliding down his leg as it twisted at an even more painful angle, and discovered the source of the splashing sound. There appeared to be a second, flooded, mine shaft opposite the first, and Sanzo, in his infinite wisdom, had managed to get his head wedged in it. Great. Way to drown yourself, stupid bastard.

He managed to twist the priest's head out of the sloping shaft and confirm that he was still breathing, but it took several painful, awkward, and uncomfortable minutes of shifting rocks to free the rest of the man's twisted and tangled limbs and lay him out more-or-less lengthwise in their cramped, rocky prison.

A cursory examination of the shaft they'd fallen down proved disheartening. It appeared to be completely closed off. At that point, Gojyo was exhausted and shivering. The sweat he'd worked up while shifting the priest around was cooling rapidly, and the air was heavy, cold, and damp.

Gasping for air, Gojyo wondered why his head was pounding so viciously. Possibly it was jealous of the attention his leg was receiving. He gingerly lowered himself onto the cave floor, positioning himself so he was lying next to the priest.

After shifting uncomfortably for a couple of minutes, his body wracked with cold, he draped himself along the murmuring priest's side. "Sorry, man," he mumbled as he slung his trembling arm over the leather-clad chest and rested his throbbing head on the uninjured shoulder. He knew he had to stay alert, that he should be looking for a way out, but he was tired, so very tired, and Sanzo was warm.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

He was having one of _those_ dreams. It seemed so real, somehow, but then they always did until he started to regain consciousness. Then they just seemed sordid and wrong, obviously an unpleasant byproduct of the necessary loss of control required for sleep. He knew he was coming around because he could feel throbbing in his head and shoulder and hard edges digging into his spine, but the fantasy was stubbornly refusing to dissipate. Squeezing his eyes shut and turning, irrationally, toward the imagined warmth, Sanzo savored the shreds of the dream, wondering if he could hold onto it a little bit longer.

The weight of an arm slung over his waist was strangely comforting. But that was okay because this was a dream, after all. This wasn't real. When the arm slid jerkily higher and brushed clumsily through his hair, Sanzo stiffened briefly but allowed it. He felt peculiarly warm and safe. He hadn't felt this safe since ... Wait. Something was touching his face. Sanzo's eyes flew open, but the darkness was still absolute.

In that moment of confusion and disorientation, he felt a pair of lips brush his forehead and murmur, "Shhh, 's okay, Sanzo, 's okay." The voice sounded rough and distorted, but it was devastatingly familiar. Was he still asleep after all? The hand in his hair stroked it again absentmindedly before sliding back down to his waist, where it hung casually and loosely, as if it belonged there.

After an interminable stretch of indecision, Sanzo finally rolled away from the distracting, warm breaths assaulting his stiff neck and stared upward into the blackness. The offending arm was now resting docilely on his tense torso, but he barely registered it. Memories were rushing back to him and overlapping with the wispy remnants of his dream, making it hard to disentangle the two. He remembered being shot at and ducking into a side corridor, and then ... and then it got a bit fuzzy, but he was fairly sure he'd fallen and hit his head. Obviously.

And now, apparently, he was entombed with the subject of his wayward dream. What a nightmare. After lying rigidly still for a few more minutes, Sanzo carefully but firmly removed Gojyo's arm and began shifting around cautiously to explore the discouraging confines of their prison. When he'd surveyed the entire area twice, Sanzo finally felt the last of the heat leave his face and decided it was high time for the damn kappa to get the hell up and help, instead of snoring and groping innocent bystanders.

Crawling awkwardly back to Gojyo's head, he felt his way to the bastard's shoulder and shook it roughly. The kappa mumbled incoherently but remained stubbornly immobile. The urge to run away shivered in the recesses of his consciousness, but it was smothered by an annoying blanket of calm. First of all, he couldn't run, but then again, a traitorous thought suggested, maybe he didn't need to either.

Shoving harder, Sanzo growled, "Wake UP, Gojyo!" His head was aching, his shoulder was throbbing, and his throat felt unnaturally tight. They didn't have time for the cockroach to get his beauty sleep.

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Goku stirred restlessly in his sleep, conking his head firmly against the wooden interior of his hollowed-out refuge. Blinking his heavy eyes open in confusion, he realized that he was curled up inside the trunk of a tree. Alone.

Scowling slightly in disappointment, Goku stretched out his limbs. They still felt a bit stiff, but nothing seemed to be permanently damaged. His stomach was still sore and tender, and EMPTY, but at least the gash had sealed shut.

Yawning expansively in the early morning light, Goku slid clumsily out of the tree. He remembered his feverish search for Sanzo the night before, but, even though he was sure he'd been heading in the right direction, he'd never found any sign of the priest, and eventually he'd had to give up because he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Trudging over toward a convenient rock, Goku noticed several shining silver strands hanging ominously from tree branches ringing the clearing. An angry shiver ran down his spine as he conjured his nyoi-bou and spun around slowly, trying to pick out any movement in the trees. A flash of white in his peripheral vision caused him to swing his weapon high as he turned to face the intruder.

White wings flapped accusingly. "Kyuuuuu!" Bright red eyes stared back at him pathetically from their perch on the end of his nyoi-bou.

Grinning with relief, Goku stowed his weapon and seized the hapless dragon with both arms, pinning it to his chest. "Hakuryu! Boy am I glad to see you, buddy!"

Hakuryu licked his face enthusiastically, and he squeezed the dragon even tighter. Squeaking in protest, the small dragon dug its claws warningly into Goku's shirt. Loosening his grip reluctantly, he ruffled the white head affectionately. "Sorry, sorry. It's just ... if you're here, then that means Sanzo's here too. He can't leave without you, Hakuryu. That's how awesome you are, y'know?" Unexpected tears were leaking out of his eyes. He swiped them away. "So, where is everyone?" he asked as he started pacing around the clearing, searching for clues.

Hakuryu kyuuued plaintively and wrapped itself possessively around his neck. Goku reached up to rub the dragon's head. "Okay, buddy. Don't worry. We'll find 'em." Hakuryu nudged his ear and hummed approvingly.

As Goku dragged his feet through the sludge, he felt his right foot collide with something odd and heard a strange rustling sound. Leaning over to check on it, he dragged a slimy foil packet out of the sludge. Curious, he tore it open. Eyeing it suspiciously, he tilted his head on the side to get a better look. It didn't look dangerous. Kind of boring, but not dangerous. Hakuryu's head snaked around and disappeared inside the packet.

"Hey! I found it first!" Goku complained, dragging the dragon out by its neck. It was already crunching on something it had found inside.

"Meanie!" Goku pouted, tucking the packet protectively under his arm. He stared at the content dragon for a full minute, trying to figure out whether it had been poisoned or not, before he tipped the whole bag into his mouth at once and started chewing.

"Mmmm ... 'ot bad," he managed after a couple of minutes. Some of it tasted kinda fruity, and there seemed to be some nuts, but he honestly didn't care as long as it was food. Hakuryu was vibrating and hissing, nose bumping Goku's and eyes blazing. "Oh, schorry," he mumbled around a mouthful. Opening the packet again, he stared forlornly at the one remaining brown flake. The dragon's head snaked out and devoured it instantly, and then the bag really was empty.

"Awwww man, I'm _still_ hungry," Goku moaned, clutching his stomach. "C'mon, Jeep, let's go find Sanzo. He'll feed us."

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Gojyo bit his lip as Sanzo bound up his right leg. Their attempts to clear out the upper shaft had proven singularly futile, and, after a particularly spirited attempt had very nearly buried them under a pile of debris, Sanzo had finally grudgingly admitted it. And Gojyo, for his part, had manfully refrained from pointing out whose bloody fault it was they were stuck down here in the first place. At least the minor landslide they'd unleashed had unearthed the priest's beloved pea-shooter.

"Well, I guess that pretty much leaves the flooded shaft," Gojyo gasped between grimaces. The nap earlier had helped his leg some, but it hadn't been splinted, and his sleep had hardly been restful, between the crappy conditions and a priest who moaned and twitched in his sleep.

Sanzo grunted noncommittally as he continued to wrap. The poor bastard would never be able to wear that robe again. Its sleeves had, once again, been torn into strips to make bindings, and, between tying up Sanzo's shoulder and Gojyo's leg, the sleeves must be nonexistent by now.

"I'll admit it's not very promising, but we're kinda out of options," Gojyo continued. Sanzo tugged hard on the bindings, causing Gojyo to yelp, then, mercifully, backed off after tying the last knot.

Dragging himself over to the second shaft, Gojyo grunted, "So I'm gonna go check it out." The water was probably cold as hell, but he figured he was better equipped for this sort of thing than priesty boy. Swimming was sort of his area and all. Gojyo shuddered and prepared to submerge, but a warm hand suddenly landed on his back, anchoring him in place.

"Don't screw around. I expect you back in under an hour. Got that?" The rough voice next to him sounded a bit strained.

Gojyo smiled. "Roger that, Sanzo-sama." The hand on his back tightened, pulling briefly on his baggy uniform, and then withdrew. Drawing in as much air as he could hold, the redhead slid head-first down the shaft, the freezing water closing in all around him. There was an odd warm spot on his back, though, that kept him focused.

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After the kappa left, Sanzo slumped back against the cave wall, his eyes closed, his knees bent, and his arms cradled loosely in his lap. Conserving his strength now would inevitably pay off later.

Eventually, he lost track of time, and he might even have nodded off at some point, but suddenly he was acutely aware of the fact that he was sore, shivering, and shifting uncomfortably against the rocks. The silence in the cave was suffocating, and the cold was seeping into his bones. That, at least, was easily fixed, and it had nothing at all to do with the fact that the loud, irreverent cockroach was gone. Irritably, Sanzo slid back into the upper half of his robe. His shoulders were protected now, but, of course, his fingers were still uncovered. Damn roach. This was all his fault.

Glowering fiercely, Sanzo wrapped his arms tightly across his chest. Inaction was really only tolerable when hot tea and a pack of Marlboro reds were available. Tea was clearly beyond his reach at this point, but cigarettes were a different story. Smoking was unwise when their oxygen supply was limited, but he figured it would only really use up the kappa's share anyway, and the bastard was late, so he fished out his lighter and a thoroughly smashed packet.

Gojyo would either come back ... or he wouldn't.

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Panting and wheezing, Gojyo pulled himself the remaining few inches up the sloping shaft and called out, "Sanzo, you there?" He sure as hell hoped this was the right cubbyhole, because he was worn out and really didn't think he could manage another search.

A strong hand materialized around his arm and dragged him the rest of the way back into the familiar enclosed space. "Of course I'm here. Where else would I be? You're late!"

The water sprite laughed weakly, face-down on the rocks. "Yeah? How can you tell? You got a watch with," cough, "glow-in-the-dark hands?" He coughed again and spat out some of the silt he'd swallowed along with the water.

"Did you find a way out?" Trust Sanzo to come right to the point. Gojyo could sense his presence hovering over him.

"Yes, sir, fearless leader, sir," Gojyo groaned, shivering, and twisted, his hand dripping, so he could pull the warm priest down on top of him. The rough, scratchy robes weren't nearly as satisfying as the feel of sleek leather, but the man was like a furnace, and, bizarrely, wasn't actually resisting. After a moment, a hesitant hand reached out and awkwardly dragged his hair out of his face, then swiftly pulled away, as if burned. Gojyo closed his eyes and just relaxed, catching his breath and savoring the feeling of heat that was seeping through him.

Later, when the trembling in Gojyo's body had subsided, his loose arms slid off the blond's back as Sanzo pulled away. Gojyo frowned in protest, but he didn't resist.

"We should move."

"Uh-huh." Gojyo sniffled. Damn. His nose was running. He swiped at it irritably with his sleeves and pushed himself up on his hands. What? It's not like he had tissues. "It took a while, but I think I've found the shortest route to the surface." He hesitated.

"And?" Sanzo prompted. He sounded tense, uneasy, as if he knew there was a catch to this that he definitely was not going to like.

"And," Gojyo continued, awkwardly brushing rock fragments off his back one-handed, "it's gonna take us about five minutes to get there." Leaning forward, Gojyo started stretching out his leg and back muscles. The last thing he wanted was to cramp up. Glancing up as he touched his toes, his youkai heritage more useful than it'd been in years, he stared, concerned, at Sanzo's vague outline. "How's your swimming, Sanzo?"

"Absolute shit," the priest ground out. The guy's bloody arms were crossed, and his hands kept twitching. Oh, yeah. Scared as hell.

Gojyo sighed and started stretching his arms. "I have a plan."

Five minutes later, Sanzo's arms were still crossed. "No. Absolutely not. Not gonna happen."

Crawling forward awkwardly, dragging his blasted gimpy right leg behind him, Gojyo cut off Sanzo's escape routes and leaned deep into defensive territory, resting his damp forehead lightly against the priest's, willing him to understand. "Look, it's the only plan we've got, and I sure as hell don't wanna stay here." After a short silence, in which Sanzo did not move at all, Gojyo continued. "I need you to trust me, here. It's gonna be fine. We can do this." _I hope._

An arm shot out and pushed Gojyo away. He sprawled awkwardly against the wall, wincing.

"Fine. We'll do it your way," the priest's hoarse voice ground out, "but if you fuck this up, in any way at all, I will personally ventilate more than just your hot head. Got it!?"

Gojyo could feel cold steel pressing against his temple. Who ever said bearding the lion in its den wasn't effective? He grinned grimly and swiped hair out of his face, brushing the pistol away in the process. Like hell he'd let the prickly bastard get hurt. Why did His Holiness think he'd spent forever mapping out all the connecting passageways? For fun? That water was fucking _cold._ Gojyo nodded, then remembered that Sanzo couldn't see it. "Fair enough," he grunted, staring intently at the outline hovering over him.

It took a bit more negotiating, involving some more half-hearted shoving and ranting, but Gojyo managed to coax His Highness out of his robe. The extra weight would just drag them down, and, with their luck, if he left it on, it'd get caught on something and slow them down even more. Scripture and pistol safely stowed in the appropriate jeans pockets, Gojyo proceeded to explain the best way to store the most air and make it last.

Eventually, Sanzo lost patience entirely. "Look," he growled, "either we leave now, or I'm leaving you here."

The anticipation must be killing him. Gojyo sighed heavily and handed Sanzo the priest's black sash. He still hadn't described their chosen path, but, given the current plan, if Sanzo didn't make it, neither would Gojyo, so it was probably best for them to simply leave now, before Sanzo lost his nerve.

The tying process was awkward, mostly because each of them was acutely aware of how close the other was. Kneeling uncomfortably in the cramped, littered space, Gojyo could feel the priest's hips digging into him from behind and hands around his waist, wrapping the ends of the sash. It's just a glorified piggyback ride, he kept reminding himself. That's all. Don't think about it. Just don't even go there. He'd totally kill you. But Gojyo couldn't help thinking about it, and his mind insisted on going there, so his breathing was a bit shallower than it probably should have been, even though his hands were determinedly pressed against the rock in front of him. Sanzo's hands were unnervingly firm and steady as they worked, and not a word passed between them until those hands stilled, finishing the last knot.

Gojyo waited another couple of seconds before double-checking the knots, then he awkwardly maneuvered them so he was lying on his stomach, ready to propel them down the tunnel. "All ready back there, Sanzo-chan?" Gojyo asked with forced lightness. Damn, he hoped none of the tunnels were too tight for this, or he'd have to reroute. It was hard to judge that sort of thing without some kind of reference, and he'd never done this before. Any of it.

"I've been ready. You're the one who's stalling!" It was distracting, really, when he could feel the low growl dislodging hairs on the back of his neck. Gojyo shivered. Damn it sucked, pining after a gruff, prickly, _magnetic_ bombshell. It was humiliating, like being the bug that can't help being drawn to the candle's flame. That was just stupid, and Gojyo was _not_ stupid, except that he totally was. He couldn't leave His Holiness, even if he had to. He'd tried that once, and it had failed spectacularly. Gojyo forced himself to relax and concentrate. Now was not the time.

"Are we going or not!?"

When he felt Sanzo thump him impatiently on the shoulder, a decidedly flustered and frustrated Gojyo called back, "We're going in." He paused just long enough to make sure Sanzo had taken a deep breath, then launched them both down the chute, gulping his own stash of air just before they submerged.

The intense cold of the water shocked him, even though he knew to expect it. His eyes strained as he concentrated on enhancing his youkai night vision. It was exhausting to use it for extended periods of time—he was only half-youkai, after all—but he'd need it to guide them through the twists and turns as the passages branched out, changed altitude, and intersected.

When the tunnel widened enough, Gojyo's arms darted out and began slicing through the icy water, dragging them forward as fast as he could manage with the extra weight, the extra drag of his fragile cargo. His legs were pretty much useless, with one leg broken, but he could more than manage with his arms, he hoped.

Several turns later, as he slowed to scrutinize the wavering outlines of their options, Gojyo felt his lungs straining with the need for oxygen. It was getting hard to concentrate. He knew he was taking too long, but he didn't recognize any of them, and his night vision was fading. Closing his eyes so he could focus inward, Gojyo forced himself to concentrate on manifesting gills. They would chew up his energy reserves even faster, but he needed oxygen, dammit, or he couldn't think, and then they really would be hosed.

After a brief but violent burst of willpower, he felt his neck reluctantly change shape. Sagging with relief, he reopened his eyes. After a couple of seconds, his eyes cleared again, and he thought he recognized the tunnel with the squarish edges. Darting into it, he felt something catch, holding him back. Carefully, reining in his panic and frustration, he backed up and turned sideways before trying again. This time they both fit. When had Sanzo's arms clasped around his chest? It didn't interfere with his breathing, and it made for a more compact profile. Gojyo ignored it and plunged down the tunnel as fast as his arms could propel them, sometimes using handy rock outcroppings for added speed. They were gonna make it.

Two wrong turns later, which had unexpectedly added up to put them back on course, Gojyo could finally see a glimmering of light up ahead. They'd reached the entrance to the sinkhole, their connection to the outside world. It was probably the closest he'd ever get to a religious experience, really. And, if he hadn't been so exhausted by the last stretch of uphill swimming, he might've actually smiled.

As it was, he was having trouble focusing on anything at all, other than moving forward, but he dimly registered that Sanzo's arms around his chest had loosened enough that they were now floating free. That bothered him for some reason, but his mind was so numb, so narrowly focused on the impossible task of forcing his leaden arms to keep dragging through the water, that he couldn't really pinpoint why.

The water, at least, was warmer as they labored upward toward the light. After catching sight of the tantalizing surface, every moment spent underwater seemed interminable, and Gojyo could already feel his gills collapsing in on themselves, sliding back into his normal human form. He clamped his open mouth shut and forced his aching arms to dig through the sludge and slime bordering the edge of the sinkhole.

His head surfaced briefly several times as he struggled to find something, anything that could provide support, his limbs straining to lift and propel two exhausted bodies. After a confused argument with a tangle of water plants, he could finally feel (relatively) solid ground under his trembling fingers, and he managed, after a couple of failed attempts, to heave them both up onto a projecting tangle of tree roots. Oh, man, that had sucked.

Gojyo was gasping and choking, his body draped haphazardly across the friendly twists of wood, but his fingers were already fumbling at the knots at his side that were keeping Sanzo affixed to his back. The silence from the priest was deafening. After a few seconds of manic plucking at the frozen, welded knots, Gojyo dug into his boot and yanked out the hunting knife. He sliced himself, again, blood welling up from the gash on his forefinger, but he managed to remove the sash.

Catching the priest's sliding form was a bit tricky, but Gojyo managed it. Barely. Sanzo's lips were blue, and his eyes were shut.

"Shiiiiiit." His head was spinning. Damn. Ummm. CPR. PCR? He blinked his eyes a couple of times and shook his head. He thought he'd seen someone do it in a bar once. Sliding his hair out of his face with one hand, he managed to brace himself so he could hover over the priest's still form.

"Here goes nothing," he panted, then leaned over and clumsily attempted to breathe into the priest's cold mouth a couple of times. When that got no response, he started shoving, hard, against the priest's leather-clad chest. Come _on,_ dammit. Move! On the third or fourth repetition, Gojyo couldn't focus enough to actually count, he thought he saw Sanzo's chest heave.

Fear and hope tangled together and knotted Gojyo's throat closed as he leaned over to breathe into the priest's mouth again. He managed one more shaky breath before vivid violet eyes shot wide open and a hand rose to shove him weakly away. Sanzo's head rolled to the side as he spat, gasped, and wheezed, his whole body spasming.

When the priest turned back over, blood was trickling out of the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were closed, but his chest was rising and falling in a relatively well-defined pattern. Gojyo sighed in relief and collapsed face-down next to him on the tree roots. "Damn, you scared me, there. I thought—"

But what Gojyo thought was cut off by a damp hand landing heavily on his neck. He jerked his head around toward Sanzo in concern, his brow furrowed, and felt a hard nose and cold lips mash up against his own. Gojyo's eyes bulged open, disbelief written all over his face as he stared numbly at the dripping, clinging blond hair. His right leg was twisted painfully under him, and he was clutching a handful of rough, slimy bark to keep from slipping back into the sinkhole. Maybe he _had_ drowned, because this could not possibly be happening.

But, just as suddenly as the lips had assaulted him, they retreated. Sanzo's eyes were closed, and he was frowning. "Shut the," cough, "hell up," he wheezed. "'S your fault. You ..." hack, "took too damn ... long."

"Wh-what the!?" Gojyo spluttered, his hand rising numbly to touch his lips. He hadn't imagined that, right? Right? He stared uncertainly at the coughing priest, wondering whether discretion might not be the better part of valor. Some small part of his pride was deeply wounded, though. He'd never encountered anyone before who'd kissed him and then hacked up a lung afterward.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Okay, once again I have learned that planning something is much faster and easier than executing it. I had intended to get further this chapter. Gomen.

Oh! And, a link to my sister Robin's fanart for this story can be found on my profile page.

Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate it!

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Great. Just great. What the hell had he been thinking? Sanzo shook his head in frustration and clutched his stomach as he hacked up phlegm, blood, and water. His lungs were on fire, and his head was spinning. Whatever had possessed him to ... to ... Shit! He'd never be able to explain this.

Eyes slitting open briefly to gauge the kappa's reaction, Sanzo noted that Gojyo was frowning and fingering his lips. Damn. He'd definitely noticed, then. Sanzo's eyes slid shut again, his brow furrowing in helpless frustration. Well so fucking what!? It was the kappa's damn fault, anyway, with all his shameless flirting. What did he expect? Besides, it wasn't like it was the water sprite's first kiss or something. And, considering how many chicks Gojyo _claimed_ he'd kissed, it'd been a pretty _pathetic_ excuse for a kiss. Sanzo wondered viciously how many _second_ kisses he'd managed to score. His muscles spasmed, and he started to shiver.

Water was bad enough, but why did it have to be so damn cold?! After taking another couple of shuddering breaths, he gave up on waiting for the uncharacteristically silent kappa to make some stupid comment. "Let's get the hell out of here," Sanzo growled hoarsely, his watering eyes still screwed shut as he rolled over awkwardly.

He didn't want to lose his balance and slip back into that hellhole. Deserts he could handle, but water should only ever appear in bath form. Forcing his eyes open, he blinked a few times before he managed to pull himself up over the tree roots. Tottering painfully to his feet and bracing himself against the tree trunk, Sanzo sloshed forward a few feet before he came to an abrupt halt. There were no echoing splashes behind him. Gritting his teeth in irritation, he turned around and shuffled back to the tree. He glared as he pulled his pistol out of his back pocket. How dare the cheeky bastard ignore him!

As he'd suspected, Gojyo was still where he'd left him, sprawled across the tree roots. "Oi!" he barked, "Now is not the time to be taking a nap."

Cocking his pistol loudly, he glared meaningfully at the unresponsive form. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but you can just stop it right now." Was this the kappa's idea of a joke? A trap?

Eyes narrowing suspiciously, he fired a warning shot to the right of the redhead's bedraggled bangs. When that got no reaction, not even a flinch or a flutter of the shut eyelids, Sanzo's frown deepened. Pocketing his pistol, he scrambled cautiously over to the slumped water sprite.

He really didn't like being this close to the water again, or to Gojyo, for that matter. Clinging tightly to the tree roots with one hand, he grabbed the kappa's arm with the other. "Come _on!"_ he growled impatiently, tugging on it. The redhead's torso flopped obediently toward him, but the lower half of the body was stuck between some twisted roots. Sanzo's body stiffened, and his fingers slid lower on the unresisting arm. He could feel a pulse. It was sluggish, but definitely present.

"Lazy fucking bastard," Sanzo huffed as he maneuvered himself out into the sinkhole again. Why the hell did the kappa have to be so tall!? And heavy? What did he eat, anyway, lead!? Disentangling the long gangly limbs was difficult and uncomfortable, but slinging him over his back and dragging him up out of the muck was damn near impossible. They kept sliding, and Sanzo couldn't maintain a grip on both Gojyo and the tree roots at the same time. When the redhead's leg got caught on a tree root in the struggle, Gojyo moaned softly but didn't move. Sanzo swore and backed up, sweat trickling down his back. At least he wasn't cold anymore.

Just as he'd finally managed to swing the troublesome leg free again, he heard a loud rustling overhead. His back strained as he tried to straighten up. Huffing, he readjusted his grip on the arms slung over his shoulders and bent his neck backward. A flash of maroon was swiftly followed by a hideous orange cape settling around the familiar shoulders of his very own wayward chimp. He slid backward a foot or two and almost lost his grip on the kappa's arms.

"Sanzo! I found you!!" The monkey's triumphant grin extended from his wild, unruly hair all the way down to his idiotic pointing finger. He could feel Gojyo getting heavier on his back.

"Where the _hell_ have you been all this time!?" A flurry of white wings beat against his face, obscuring the deep scowl he could feel replacing his momentary lapse of shock.

"Well, I ..." Goku started, large brown eyes blinking, but Sanzo cut him off.

"Never mind, forget I asked! Hurry up and give me a hand with _this_ idiot." The redhead was starting to slip again, and Sanzo's shoulder was throbbing insistently. Monkey boy could explain his unexcused absence later.

Goku finally seemed to notice the arms slung around Sanzo's neck. "Whoa! Is he drunk!?"

Trust the monkey to jump to the stupidest conclusion possible. "Yes," Sanzo snapped irritably as Goku, his eyes wide and forehead creased, slid down the slope and finally started being useful. Well, the kappa had certainly drunk quite a bit of water before he'd passed out cold, the stupid bastard. And why the hell was the flying pet lizard poking its nose around his hips and eyeing him accusingly?

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Hwan dug absentmindedly into a bag of stale potato chips as she hunched over her lab notes, fluorescent bulbs flickering fitfully overhead. The wheels of the lab chair squeaked in protest as she scooted the chair back over to the glowing terminal to enter another column of data.

If she weren't so meticulous about her work, Ni would never get anywhere. At least, his results would never be reproducible, not that he cared. To him, science was a game, and, when it came down to managing the details, he got bored quickly. His work was always spectacular, in one way or another, but it was rarely practical.

She pushed her glasses back up on her nose and stood abruptly, bustling over to check the timer. It was still showing another three hours before she could begin the tricky business of copying and manipulating the appropriate knowledge and personality patterns. The primary sample had already been collected, and development was progressing steadily within the specified parameters.

Slipping on a pair of gloves, she popped the top of the centrifuge and pulled out one of the sealed tubes. Tapping it lightly to get the liquid to settle, she drew out a pipette and proceeded methodically with her preparations. She should have the nurturing solution ready in plenty of time for the transfer.

Fifteen minutes later, when she was completely focused on checking the pH of the buffering solution that was swirling gently in its beaker, the lab door swished open. The distinctive sound of flapping bunny slippers confirmed that the intruder was, in fact, Ni, back at last. Lady Koushu must have had something particularly creative in mind. Hwan continued with her work, not bothering to look up, determined not to ruin this batch when it was so close to its critical stage.

Off-key humming was joined by a series of electronic bleeps. Hmph. So, he was back to the game controller. Hwan expertly aimed the used micropipette tip in the direction of the trash bin. It landed with a satisfying thunk. The game controller was terribly childish, of course, and it maddened her that she had no idea what it actually did, other than make noise and irritate the hell out of her. Maybe that was its sole purpose. She wouldn't put it past him. The box of games the controller had actually come with had only kept him busy for a week before he'd gleefully toasted them all. The microwave had never been the same afterward.

Turning with a sigh, Hwan moved off toward a row of cabinets to collect the necessary wires and tubing. When she'd actually managed to flush the tubing and prime it with the necessary liquids, she flinched and turned abruptly to face the presence that had been silently hovering behind her.

Ni smiled broadly, his hair a tousled mess, and held out his chipped coffee mug. "We're out of hot chocolate, Hwan-chan." He dropped the mug unceremoniously on top of the bundle of cables she had in her hands. Ten seconds of frantic fumbling later, she'd managed to catch the bunny mug's handle in the crook of her pinkie, but most of the cables were lying on the floor in a tangled mess.

Scowling, she set the rest of the cables down on a nearby lab bench and strode out of the lab, headed for the food supply cabinets. The bastard had bruises on his neck now, and there were new bandages on his fingers. She really didn't want to know, really she didn't. It just irked her more than she cared to admit that a clever, ruthless woman like Lady Koushu would have anything at all to do with a vile snake like Ni. Oh, using him was fine. He was brilliant and all, and he knew more than anyone about the Tenchi Kaigen scriptures, but, at his core, he was incapable of loyalty or fear, and therefore not to be trusted.

Pausing in the correct side corridor and dragging a heavy key chain out of her lab pocket, Hwan selected the correct key and wrestled the metal cabinet open. There were only two hot cocoa packets left. Snatching both, she slammed the flimsy metal door closed again, relocked it, and stormed back down the corridor to the lab. This was so juvenile. It wasn't like she was his lackey.

Back inside the lab, she dumped the powdered mix into the mug, sloshed some hot water in on top of it, and thumped the mug down on the lab bench next to Ni, who was now comfortably stretched out on a spare gurney, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His eyes cracked open as he smirked up at her.

"Why, how thoughtful of you, Hwan-chan." Swinging his long limbs around, he managed to attain a cross-legged position on the clean sheets, dust and hair from his filthy slippers combining with the crumbs spilling out of his pockets onto the starched white sheets. Taking a brief sip of the cocoa, he leaned over toward the gurney next to his and lifted the sterilized sheet. Ash flaked off the end of his cigarette and landed, smoldering, on the floor. Hwan frowned in stiff disapproval.

"We'll need a minimum of ten new copies of the Y003 model by the end of the day tomorrow." One hand played idly with the damp braids laid out on the white sheets while the other balanced both the cigarette and the mug. He downed another gulp of scalding cocoa before setting the mug down directly in the middle of her pristine lab notebook. An oozing brown ring spread out across her meticulous columns of numbers.

"With all due respect," Hwan ground out through gritted teeth, tugging the sheet back into place, "I don't see how these cloning experiments relate to the revival project. Shouldn't we be focusing on obtaining the final missing sutra?"

Ni clucked disapprovingly, but swung off his perch and pulled the inevitable bunny off the gurney with him. He'd been using it as a pillow. "Ah, but these experiments _are_ related. You'll see eventually, I'm sure. And we might just manage to collect the last sutra while we're at it. It's more efficient this way, don't you agree?" He chucked her chin lightly, then smiled down at his stuffed animal as he moved off to settle down in front of the game controller again.

Scowling and brushing ineffectually at the mess on the no-longer-sterile sheets, Hwan finally gave it up as a lost cause. Spinning around and snatching the half-empty mug, she planted herself firmly between Ni and his glowing monitor. "So, shall I prepare a progress report for Lady Koushu? I've been correlating the cloning data, and—"

The light reflected off Ni's glasses as he set the bunny on the bench in front of him. "Oooh, she's jealous, isn't she, Bunny-chan? Yes, Hwan-chan hasn't been getting any lately, so she's trying to impress people. It's sad, isn't it?" The sick bastard made the stuffed animal nod its head in agreement as he grinned up at her. Suddenly, every scratch, bruise, and bandage on Ni's face, neck, and hands made Hwan itch all over.

Stifling a scream of frustration, she slammed the stupid mug down on the counter and stalked off to scoop up the pile of cables and sort them again. He was obviously stalling. Was he really waiting for the cloning project to finish before reporting on it, or was he hiding something? And why did he have to be such a know-it-all? She hated it when he hit close to home, and he always did, somehow. It was like he had a sixth sense for people's weaknesses or something. She suspected that, half the time he was hunched in front of his computer, he was digging up everybody's dirty little secrets.

Stretching and yawning hugely, Ni came over to pet her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Hwan-chan. I'm sure Gyumaoh-kun will be more than happy to share." Hwan stiffened despite herself. When she finally heard the lab door swish shut, she stared down at her trembling hands and clenched them fiercely. She would fight back. All she needed to do was find irrefutable evidence of his treachery and convince Lady Koushu to terminate him. Then he'd see who got the last laugh.

Her mind made up, she launched herself to her feet, swaying slightly from the blood rush, and made straight for Ni's terminal. She could keep track of his location using his own surveillance monitors. A grim smile stretched across her face. He'd underestimated her for far too long, and now he was going to pay.

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Even after Goku slung the limp kappa's knees over his shoulder and Sanzo took the arms, their progress was still agonizingly slow. The ground, at least was becoming firmer, even if it was obscured by rampant undergrowth, and, using the mountain as a guide, Sanzo was fairly sure they were heading in the right direction.

When Sanzo, quite literally, tripped over a set of tracks and fell heavily against a metal cart, jarring his injured shoulder, he swore fiercely. After closer inspection, though, it seemed like the first stroke of luck he'd had in days. Manhandling Gojyo's dead weight into the rusted cart left Sanzo and Goku leaning against the side of the cart panting, rampant weeds clinging and scratching. Hakuryu hovered around and kyuuued plaintively. Sanzo would have swatted the noisy pest, but the breeze was welcome, and moving seemed an unreasonable waste of energy at that point.

After a few minutes, Sanzo grunted and turned to put his uninjured shoulder to the cart. It rocked gently in place before sliding forward a couple of inches. Glaring, he braced his feet in the slats on the track and managed to get the wayward cart to move a couple of feet before it ground to a halt in the midst of a particularly dense thorny bush. At that point, Goku got a running start and threw himself against the cart, a blurry brown cannonball. The decrepit cart groaned and creaked before suddenly moving far enough forward that Sanzo ended up flat on his back, wooden slats digging into his vertebrae and long, thin scratches on his hands and face. So not a good day.

He could hear Goku yanking the cart to a squealing halt, and then unruly brown hair was obscuring his view of the twisted branches overhead. "Sanzo, you okay?"

Closing his eyes, Sanzo grunted, "Find another cart."

Goku looked around. "This is the only one, Sanzo." A cool hand landed on his forehead. Sanzo's eyes squinted open again. The chimp looked determined. "Why don't'cha climb in?"

The priest managed to roll over and drag himself to his feet again. He considered resisting, but, really, he'd reached his limit, and Goku was remarkably stubborn when he wanted to be. The little brat would probably just pick him up when he fell and wrestle him into the cart then.

Leaning heavily against the top of the cart, Sanzo sighed. He didn't have the energy to fight right now. If Gojyo could be selfish and lazy, then so could he, dammit! And, if the kappa woke up and started anything, then Sanzo would damn well finish it! "Fine," Sanzo growled, heaving himself awkwardly into the cart next to the prone kappa. "Wake me up in half an hour."

"Okay!" Goku called cheerfully, all traces of stubbornness vanishing, as if it had never been. The rusty metal cart swayed gently on its warped tracks and creaked as it resumed its brisk forward motion through the overgrown weeds. Sanzo spent a few minutes rearranging the kappa's limbs to his liking, eyeing the limp redhead beadily all the while. When he'd finally settled on the least uncomfortable contortion available, he settled his head against the back corner of the cart, the top of his mussed blond head peeking up over the edge.

Goku hummed softly as he watched the two heads roll gently back and forth in their respective corners. Hakuryu occasionally took to perching on the back of the cart, long white neck arching around so it could check again for the presence of hidden snacks. Goku shooed the dragon off when Sanzo grunted irritably. And, gradually, as the cart rolled along, the two heads inside it slid closer and closer together until, finally, they were jostling gently against each other.

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When Goku caught sight of a group of people up ahead through the trees, he slowed to a halt and Hakuryu settled on his shoulders. The figures appeared to be darting about next to a line of metal carts parked around the next bend. "Whaddaya suppose they want, buddy?" he asked the dragon, stroking the hissing head hovering next to his head. He frowned briefly, then grinned. "Maybe they have food!" He braced his arms once again against the back of the cart, bouncing on his toes. "I'll bet they do." Sprinting forward with an enthusiastic burst of speed, the cart wobbled a bit and almost came off its tracks as Goku whipped around the corner. The two sleeping heads rolled to the side, and a warning growl issued forth from the depths of the cart.

Sanzo, who'd been rudely awakened from his well-earned doze, was mortified to realize that he'd been snuggled up against the water sprite, his arm slung protectively over the redhead's chest. Snatching his wayward arm away from its illicit perch, he whipped his head around and funneled all his frustration into the sizzling glare he sent over the edge of the cart at the wayward chimp. When that had no immediate effect, he braced himself against the framework of the swaying, jolting cart so he could twist around and whack the chimp, hard, on his wild, demented little head. Just as he had nearly managed to get within reach, twitching hand outstretched, the sound of raised and angry voices forced him to swivel back around to face whatever it was he was currently hurtling headlong toward.

The soldiers responded immediately to the sudden appearance of intruders. Two of them dashed in front of the cart and brought it to an abrupt halt. Goku frowned at them in consternation. He'd been having fun. What was their problem?

Sanzo took mental stock of the new bruises he'd just acquired, including the throbbing one on the back of his head, and grimly began apportioning levels of blame among those present so he could dole out appropriate retribution. Attempting to lever himself up out of his undignified position sprawled in the cart, Sanzo gritted his teeth. "You! Get that ridiculous monstrosity out of my face." He waved his hands irritably at the rifle that had dared infringe on his personal space.

The solider in question looked a bit dumbfounded and lowered his weapon a bit, frowning. "Who the hell—" he started, but he was distracted by the sound of another soldier jogging over to see what was going on.

The newcomer's facial muscles twitched into a grimace reminiscent of indigestion as he stared at the motley trio. An unidentified midget was pouting, his hands on his hips, while a white dragon hissed from its perch in his hair. The redheaded traveler was shifting restlessly and mumbling a bit in the cart, and a bruised and thoroughly irritable blond was half out of the cart, his hair a complete mess and dirty bandages unraveling on his shoulder. When the blond finally succeeded in levering himself out, he somehow managed to tower over the taller soldiers who were standing uneasily in front of the cart, cradling their rifles uncertainly.

Sanzo crossed his arms and scowled indiscriminately at everyone. "I've had a _really_ shitty day, so I suggest you either help me find Hakkai or get the hell out of my way." His eyes slid over to the newcomer, who was slowly edging away. "You! I know you. Your first aid skills suck."

Private Shin winced and glanced around for help as the blond advanced purposefully toward him. These guys were nothing but trouble. "Rin! Get Sergeant Nu!" he called, his voice only cracking slightly.

A burly female soldier saluted and trotted off down the line. Shin watched her go until his attention was forcibly yanked back to the man who was now standing next to him and impatiently rifling through his backpack. "Hey!" he yelped, dancing out of range. "Get the hell off me!" He'd had enough of being looted the night before, when he'd first met these nutcases.

"Shut the hell up and stand still. I just want your fucking med kit." Shin paused, sighed, then slung his pack off his back and handed it over. "That's more like it," the blond growled. "You do have aspirin in here, don't you? I've got a splitting headache."

Sanzo paused, glared beadily at the bristling soldier, then yanked the med kit out before tossing the pack on the ground. "Never mind. You probably wouldn't recognize it if you saw it."

A couple of the other soldiers snorted and stifled snickers. Shin shot them dirty looks and bent over to retrieve his backpack, only to discover that the midget was already sorting through its contents, tossing items haphazardly aside. "What the _hell!?"_ Shin wailed, and tried to snatch his belongings back from the crazy interloper.

Goku frowned briefly at the attempted recapture, then hopped over toward Sanzo, clutching his loot. "Sanzo, he's mean! I just wanted something to eat, and he won't share!"

Running his twitching fingers through his hair, Shin reminded himself that he _was not_ cursed, the villager fortune teller was just a tipsy old bat, and his tour of duty was over in two more months.

"Sanzo, I'm hungry!" the midget continued, tugging on the blond's elbow and waving around a brown packet with the inscription "m&m's" on it. "Is this okay to eat? It looks safe. I really want a meat bun, though. Can I have a meat bun now?"

Sanzo, who had finally found what he was looking for, swatted half-heartedly at Goku and popped a couple of tablets in his mouth, wincing slightly at the bitterness on his tongue. "Just eat them, dammit," he growled absentmindedly at the pouting chimp. He was busy scowling at the sandy-haired man striding into view. He knew he'd seen the guy before. What was his name? N something. Noodle? Newbie? Dammit! Gojyo and his stupid nicknames!


	14. Chapter 14

Sergeant Nu swiped his sleeve distractedly across his dripping forehead as he strode toward the ruckus. He hadn't gotten much sleep in the past thirty-six hours. Shin had better have a good reason for dragging him all the way down the line. When he got close enough to make out the scowling blond, he almost laughed. The guy always seemed to be upset about one thing or another. But, if Sanzo was here, then that meant Gojyo couldn't be far behind. He scanned the group again, squinting a bit as he passed out of the shade and into a patch of sunlight. No sign of the easygoing redhead. He tensed a bit. They'd lost too many good men already. In the short time he'd known the man, he'd come to respect, and even like, Gojyo. His brow furrowed as he finally reached the group.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, gesturing brusquely for the tense soldiers in front of the rusted cart to stand down. They hastily complied, relieved to pass the responsibility on to someone else, and went back to their duties. Nu took in the sight of Shin, standing at attention over his ransacked pack. The man looked miserable. Sighing, Nu ignored him and locked eyes with Sanzo instead. "Who's this?" he asked, gesturing toward the unidentified midget, "And where's Gojyo?"

The blond's unnatural eyes flashed briefly at the mention of the redhead's name. "This is Goku," he answered gruffly. His eyes flicked briefly toward the rusted cart behind him. Nu leaned to the side a bit, to see around the blond, and was able to make out a lumpy shadow attached to a mop of scraggly red hair. Ahhh, interesting. Well, that's a relief. Probably.

Sanzo's eyes narrowed. "And Gojyo's taking a nap," he finished abruptly, moving to block Nu's view of the contents of the cart. The blond crossed his arms and leaned back against the cart, one hand dangling casually next to his bulging pocket.

Nu's glance returned to the brown-haired midget. "Ah, your missing friend." The solider nodded curtly. They'd been looking for a Goku, he remembered. The nickname "monkey" seemed particularly apt, too. The man-child's keen gaze was darting measuringly between its master and the interloper, gauging the level of threat, while it devoured a chocolate candy bar with relish. It still seemed odd that Gojyo would be napping, though, and he got the distinct impression that Sanzo was displeased by his interest in the redhead. How curious.

Nu's brows furrowed briefly before he dismissed the thought. He had more pressing matters to attend to first. "We're a bit busy just now," he explained, running a hand through his sweat-matted hair. "There was another attack late last night. Ten men died." He cocked his head to the side consideringly, taking in Sanzo's bedraggled appearance, including his missing robe. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"No," Sanzo growled, predictably. Then, after a moment, he continued, his sharp eyes narrowing. "Wait a minute. I thought you said these youkai only ambushed isolated individuals." His violet eyes slid to the side briefly when he got lashed by the tail of the white dragon as it dive-bombed the chimp and snatched an unprotected bag of potato chips.

"Hey, no fair!" the midget wailed, and chased off after the dragon, who had wisely found a perch on a distant branch, its wings fluttering smugly as it dipped its head into the bag clutched in its claws. Goku had obviously decided that Nu was no threat. He didn't know whether to be flattered or concerned.

"That's what we thought," he answered grimly, ignoring the childish chaos continuing behind them as Goku leapt up into the tree to give chase. "These soldiers were transporting iron ore. They were well armed and had been fully briefed on the nature and potential of the poisonous youkai." He paused briefly to frown and swallow the bile rising in the back of his throat. Lieutenant Po had been a good friend of his, and not inclined to be sloppy in his work. "When they still hadn't reported back by the time we'd returned to camp, we were sent back out to look for them. We found most of the missing soldiers, but," he frowned and stared, hard, at the rusty cart in front of him, "I'm pretty sure we're looking at a new threat. All the soldiers had been stripped of their weapons, and their corpses ... looked different." He winced. "Slashed. A few of them had been shot." He paused again, then flicked his eyes toward the carts lined up on the tracks ahead of them. "We're transporting them back to base now for analysis."

"Wait a minute," Sanzo rubbed his forehead irritably. "We got shot at last night!" Goku's legs flailed inches from Sanzo's nose as the branch he'd been climbing on sagged. The leaves rustled ominously, and Hakuryu kyuued triumphantly as the dragon landed on Sanzo's shoulder.

"That's cheating!" Goku complained, twisting awkwardly as he dangled from the wobbling branch. "Sanzo, make him give it back! I saw it first." Irritably, Sanzo ducked to the side, seized the offending flailing limbs, and yanked on them, effectively neutralizing the distraction as he set it firmly on the ground, off to the side. The dragon fluttered off his shoulder, and the monkey once again gave chase, whipping round and round the rusted cart. Sanzo's head throbbed, and he briefly considered tripping the brown blur of energy as it dashed past yet again.

"Really?" Nu's attention focused narrowly on Sanzo. "Where? When?"

"We were in an older section of the mine, looking for _this,"_ Sanzo growled, snagging the collar of the ridiculous orange cloak as it floated past. Bending over to glare into startled, indignant brown eyes, he hissed, "Watch where you're going, you damn pest! That was my _foot!"_

Goku cowered for a moment, looking contrite. Sanzo's face contorted, twitching, before it softened. "Just get in the damn cart and sit _still_ for a minute." Goku climbed obediently into the cart next to Gojyo and stared expectantly up at Sanzo, waiting for further instruction.

Nu was scratching the back of his head. "I see," he said. "So, you were in the caves." He closed his eyes briefly. "I think you'd better come with us. We're headed back to camp."

Sanzo sighed and twisted around to face the soldier in front of him. "Right. Good. Wake me up when we get there." With that, he turned and climbed back into the rusted cart, shoving Goku over onto Gojyo's lap. Hakuryu perched on the front of the cart, its nose thrust forward, its wings spread, and its long tail swishing back and forth in anticipation.

Nu's mouth dropped open in vaguely horrified shock, his face sliding through a number of confused contortions before he finally shrugged. They were wounded, after all, except maybe the monkey. Shin had finally retrieved the majority of his belongings and was crouched over his pack, in the process of zipping it shut.

Leaning over, Nu clapped the private on the shoulder. "Well, since you found them, Shin, you can escort them back to camp." A wry smile twitched into place on his face when he saw Shin's horrified expression. "Feel free to recruit help if you need it, but we're moving out as soon as I've done one last inspection." Nu turned his back on the wilting soldier and strode down the line without a backward glance.

Gojyo grunted in response to the chimp's added weight, his upper body shifting around until his head settled firmly against Sanzo's shoulder. "Mmm, 's cold, Sanzo," he mumbled, trying to snuggle closer. Goku frowned, then shrugged, chalking it up to the kappa's reportedly inebriated state. Sanzo stiffened for a moment, glaring at the arm slung around his shoulder, but, when it became clear that the kappa was once again dead to the world, he sighed and simply laid his head back against the cart, closing his itching eyes in resignation.

"Stupid lazy bastard," he mumbled sleepily as the cart jostled gently into motion and resumed its steady journey down the tracks.

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Yaone's eyes flew open suddenly, consciousness returning all at once. She felt like she'd been asleep for years, and her body felt leaden and strange. She could hear a quiet tapping noise in the background and the occasional burble of bubbles rising through a liquid. Lifting her hand cautiously, she pulled aside the sheet covering her face and lifted her head to survey the situation. Within seconds of glancing around, she knew she was in Dr. Ni's lab. She quivered with anger and wasn't even sure why. This was not where she should be. She should go to Kougaiji-sama right now and report this.

Lifting herself up into a sitting position, she tracked down the source of the tapping. Dr. Ni's assistant seemed to be typing away in front of one of those strange glowing screens they were so fond of. Stealthily, unsure as of yet why she was here and unwilling to draw attention to herself just yet, she climbed off the rolling bed she'd been lying on and stared, stunned, at the contents of the glowing glass cases lining the wall. Every single one of them contained a person who looked just like her. She shivered and backed up a step. No, not all of them. The case closest to the wall was empty. And the cases weren't mirrors, either. She could tell because the images didn't move with her, and, besides, the reflections were all wrong.

Steeling herself angrily, she quelled her fear, burying it deep as she turned around to examine the softly glowing cases behind her. They were all empty, except the one nearest her. From inside the glass case, Dokugakuji-dono's face stared back at her, his body floating freely in the greenish liquid. She clasped a hand to her face to stifle a gasp. She'd been in one of these too! After a quick survey, she decided she had no idea which buttons to press to free Dokugakuji-dono. One of them might kill him instantly for all she knew.

Quivering with anger, she whipped back around to stare at the oblivious woman hunched over on the other side of the room. "She'll know how," Yaone thought viciously. Scanning the room for weapons, she finally snatched up the first thing she recognized: a scalpel. Advancing purposefully toward the human assistant, she told herself she was going to get Dokugakuji-dono out of there, and then she was going to get some answers. Somehow, she didn't think she'd like them, but Kougaiji-sama would need to be told.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

Gojyo's eyes opened blearily to the sight of a familiar leather-clad back. For some reason he couldn't quite puzzle out just now, he felt immensely relieved by that. Of course, his relief was also tempered by the realization that his head was throbbing, his body felt as limp as a wet noodle, and the world was swaying gently as he rolled forward. "Sanzo?" he croaked. His throat felt scratchy. He coughed, trying to clear it. "Sanzo," he tried again, his voice louder this time, "why am I in a wheelbarrow?"

The figure ahead of him continued to stride along impatiently, if somewhat stiffly. "Because nobody wanted to _carry_ your sorry ass."

"Oh. Okay," Gojyo coughed again and managed to summon up a crooked grin. "Just so I know." He tried to stretch out his cramped limbs and felt a sharp, tingling pain shoot down his leg. "At-cha-chaaa," he whined, clutching his right leg. "Dammit!"

A face framed by familiar sandy brown hair leaned into Gojyo's field of view and smiled indulgently down at him. Huh. It was kinda funny that the face was upside down. "We're almost there," the voice announced. Oh, yeah. Newbie-san. Gojyo closed his eyes and grinned lazily.

"You're making me dizzy hanging upside down like that," he announced as he stretched again, more cautiously this time. He thought he could hear an irritated snort drifting back from up ahead and the sound of thudding feet dashing up from behind.

"Gojyo! You're awake!" A strong hand yanked on his right arm, dragging it across the cold metal edge of the wheelbarrow. Gojyo's eyes flew open, and warm honey-brown eyes suddenly filled his vision. "You shouldn't drink so much, ya demented kappa!" The eyes backed up a bit so he could see the rest of the chimp's grinning face. "'Cause you're heavy, yanno!" The monkey nodded his head sagely for emphasis.

Gojyo smirked smugly for a second, thinking of several irritating responses to that, but then his brow furrowed in bewilderment. Had he been drinking? He shook his head groggily. He thought he'd been swimming, actually. "_So_ not the point, monkey boy!" He reached out to ruffle the unruly brown hair. "Where the hell were you!? You got Sanzo all worked up. We looked everywhere for you!"

Goku pulled the edge of his eye down and leaned closer again. Gojyo reached out to pinch the cheeky little chimp's cheek, but Goku ducked out of the way. "Ya should've seen 'im when you took off after Kami-sama!"

"Oh?" Gojyo asked curiously, his eyes flicking forward inquiringly. The stiff leather back remained determinedly uncommunicative.

"Yeah, he was really weird and pissy! Even Hakkai said so," Goku continued authoritatively.

Sanzo growled warningly but didn't turn around. Gojyo rolled his eyes. Better leave the touchy bastard alone for now. "Uh _huh,"_ he grunted, promising himself he'd get to the bottom of _that_ later. Glancing back at the monkey, he waved his hand expectantly. "So, cough it up already, where _were_ you, buddy?"

Goku scowled and crossed his arms, pouting. "I got caught by this really big _spider,"_ he complained, gesturing with his hands to indicate the size of his captor.

Gojyo snorted and reached out his hand to ruffle the kid's hair again, but he couldn't quite reach. Reluctantly, he retracted his hand and dropped it back in his lap. "What'd you go and do that for?" Gojyo demanded, chuckling. "I thought you had my back, man, and you let me down."

"It's not like I meant to," Goku grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I was chasing those two youkai. You know, the ones throwing the knives? Anyway, I was chasing 'em from tree to tree, and I almost had 'em." Goku yanked his hands back out of his pockets and mimed snatching something out of the air. "And then ... then next thing I knew I was all tied up," he finished in disgust, kicking a stray pebble. It made a soft thwapping sound when it landed, and Sanzo's head swiveled around suspiciously, scowling. Gojyo managed to stifle a soft snort with his hand, and Goku grinned weakly. After a short, irritated grunt, Sanzo shook his head and went back to ignoring them. "The dirty rotten spider must've snuck up behind me or somethin'," Goku finished in an angry stage whisper.

"Sucks to be you," Gojyo agreed absently, nodding his head. He could feel his memories rapidly falling back into place, and he was a bit preoccupied with one in particular. He rubbed his forehead distractedly, tuning out the sounds of the military camp buzzing all around them, and stared fixedly at the back of Sanzo's scruffy blond head. Had Sanzo, Mr. Touch-me-not himself, really kissed him? The priest's back disappeared as the man ducked through the tent flaps ahead of them. Nah, couldn't have. Then again, he couldn't actually imagine inventing quite such an awkward, chaste kiss.

Before Gojyo could get any further in his musings, he also passed through the tent flaps and into the familiar confines of the military medical tent. It seemed remarkably dim after the bright afternoon sunshine. "Welcome home," a quiet, cheerful voice called from off to the right.

"Heeey, Hakkai!" Gojyo grinned widely, searching for the face that went with the familiar voice. "Damn, man. 'S about time you woke up. We had to leave without ya, yanno."

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Hakkai replied gravely, "but you could have at least left me a note." His soft voice was laced with gentle recrimination.

"Yeah? Sorry, man. The chimp here was AWOL, so we had to go fetch him." Gojyo ignored the monkey's indignant protests as he blinked and squinted, trying to see where Sanzo had gone.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the new lighting, he could see that Hakkai was sitting up in a folding chair, a blanket draped around his shoulders and an open med kit lying forgotten in his lap. Hakuryu was purring loud enough to wake the dead, its wings flapping gently as it hovered, and nuzzling every available inch of Hakkai's face. "Heh, I see your little pet rat beat us here."

Hakuryu's head whipped around briefly to hiss sharply at Gojyo before returning its attention to its master and wrapping itself firmly around Hakkai's neck, licking his ear for good measure. "Damn, guys, get a room!" Gojyo laughed as Nu's strong arms pried him out of the wheelbarrow and walked him slowly over to one of the empty beds. "Does Yaone know about you two?" he asked, still snickering at Hakkai's shocked face. He grimaced and hissed softly as his right leg was eased onto the hospital bed.

There was a short, pronounced silence during which Gojyo realized what he'd said, winced, and felt like a complete heel. He scratched his head distractedly, trying to avoid eye contact with Hakkai. Nu, meanwhile, had drawn the two medics in the tent aside and was speaking to them in a low, hurried tone, his arms crossed. Dammit! Some help here? Come on, seriously!

"Ummm," Gojyo started, eyes scanning the room again to find Sanzo. The blond had set up camp on a bed on the other side of the tent, and a thin trail of smoke was drifting over his head. Bastard! Now Gojyo wanted a smoke. His hands twitched.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Nu nod his head once in acknowledgment and stride out of the tent with one of the medics in tow. The other medic made a beeline for Gojyo, passing Hakkai in the process.

Hakkai's head dipped, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground as he cleared his throat. "Yes, well, about Yaone-san. I'm afraid I caused a bit of a disturbance earlier." His voice was soft and clear, but it carried to every corner of the tent. "I do wish you'd left me a note." When Hakkai lifted his head, a wistful, self-deprecating smile stretched across his whole face.

The medic snorted as he drew out a pair of scissors and proceeded to snip through the ragged remains of the right leg of Gojyo's borrowed army fatigues. "He totally freaked out," the medic translated. Gojyo shot a worried glance over at Hakkai and really regretted not leaving a note.

The white-coat looked like he had a freaking caterpillar hovering under his nose, and the little prat was a shrimp, to boot. Yanking the separated cloth out of the way, the medic continued, "It took six of us to hold him down, even though he was still sick as a dog, before someone managed to get Captain Tenjo to come talk sense into him."

"Please forgive me," Hakkai murmured softly. Gojyo's eyes flicked back over to settle on his friend, irritated that Hakkai hadn't left any lasting marks on the little rat. Hakkai shrugged, apologetic smile still fixed in place. This meant, of course, that Gojyo was completely unprepared for the painful sting of peroxide being poured over his leg. He hissed softly and glared reprovingly at the oblivious medic.

"But he's really nice when you get to know him," the medic added thoughtfully as he scrubbed away at Gojyo's tender leg with a sterile cloth, "and useful, too." Gojyo bit his lip and concentrated on not screaming like a girl when the medic rebroke his leg to set it. Water leaked out of the corners of his eyes anyway, and, by the time his leg had been splinted and wrapped, Hakkai's hands were busily wrapping a roll of bandages into a tight, neat, efficient bundle and packing it away into the med kit on his lap. That's when Gojyo noticed the careful stacks of medical kits lying in neat rows on the bed next to Hakkai. Man, tidy was like the guy's middle name or something.

And Sanzo was _still_ smoking, the bastard. Gojyo could smell it from here, and it was a Hi-lite, too, dammit! Where the hell had he gotten those!? Goku was sitting on the bed with Sanzo, leaning against the priest's back and hugging a pillow between his knees and his chest. His eyes looked a bit glazed, and his head kept dipping and then jerking back up again.

The medic moved briskly toward the basin to wash up, then dried his hands and snatched up another set of bandages, moving purposefully toward Sanzo. Gojyo smiled maliciously, hoping the quack was just as rough with His Holiness.

"What happened to your leg, Gojyo-san?" Hakkai asked abruptly, his eyes looking much sharper and his face more genuinely relaxed.

"Uh, a bear trap, and then I, uh, fell down a mine shaft," Gojyo answered, smiling wryly.

"Goodness, you _have_ been busy," Hakkai laughed. "I seem to have slept through all the action."

"Yeah, well," Gojyo answered, frowning and readjusting the pillow behind his head. "I'm not too sure about that. We still haven't figured out who's at the bottom of all this, and I figure we owe him at least a bloody nose or two after all this." He rubbed at some of the caked mud on his army fatigues and squirmed some more, trying to get comfortable.

Hakkai frowned and opened his mouth, but just then Nu ducked his head through the tent flaps. "Hey, guys," he called, glancing around at the tent's occupants, "Captain Tenjo's over dealing with the locals in the village again and probably won't be back for another hour or two, so you might as well wash up and grab a bite to eat while you're waiting." He shot a friendly smile at Gojyo. "I know I'm going to."

"Score!" Gojyo hooted, springing into a sitting position on the bed. "I call dibs on the bath!" His head felt light and dizzy after the sudden movement, but his arms were strong enough to keep him from falling backward in an undignified heap.

"Absolutely not," a sharp voice retorted from the far end of the tent. Gojyo's eyes slid over carefully, mindful of the spinning room, to rest on a very irritated Sanzo. "You got a bath yesterday, and I didn't, so you can bloody well wait your turn." The man was already on his feet and marching stiffly toward the tent flaps, persistent medic and sleepy Goku in tow.

"Hey, no fair, you bastard!" Gojyo growled, awkwardly scooting his legs toward the edge of the bed. He winced as pain lanced up his right leg. "I called it first."

"Maa, maa," Hakkai interrupted, waving his hands placatingly. "There are two baths, aren't there, Nu-san?"

"Well, yeah, but ..." Nu was scratching his stubble and frowning a bit. It was almost as if the poor guy had kind of been hoping to grab one of the baths for himself. Gojyo smiled at him pityingly and shrugged apologetically. The determined medic, on the other hand, had finally managed to pin the last of the bandages in place on Sanzo's shoulder. Given the accusatory stares the two of them were trading, Gojyo had a nasty suspicion that the pin might have pricked Sanzo in the process. He snickered a bit behind the hand that wasn't keeping him upright.

"I wanna go too!" Goku announced, tugging on Sanzo's hand insistently.

Sanzo hissed and transferred his glare to Goku. The monkey had just jarred his injured shoulder.

"I guess I could grab some grub first," Nu mused, scratching his head, his face a comic mix of disappointment and amusement. Gojyo couldn't really blame the man for not being enthusiastic about sharing a tent with an irritable Sanzo, but, at this point, Gojyo was willing to brave very nearly anything for some hot water and a bar of soap. He grinned grimly and started to gingerly drag his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Fooooooood!!!" Goku crowed, bouncing, all signs of fatigue vanishing. "I'm hungry, Sanzo! Let's get some food! D'ya guys have meat buns? Do ya? 'Cause I love meat buns! Or ramen. Ramen's good, or—" Sanzo's fist landed heavily on the monkey's head, effectively silencing him, at least temporarily.

"_I_ am going to go take a bath," Sanzo growled, scowling fiercely at the rapidly blinking Goku. "Understand?" Goku nodded cautiously, but the promise of food still shone in his eyes. "If you're hungry, go get food your own damn self." He jabbed a finger toward the military officer still standing in the tent's entrance. _"He_ knows where the food is. Follow _him."_

Goku bobbed his head again, but a stubborn crinkle persisted between his eyes. Awww, the monkey doesn't wanna lose sight of his Sanzo-sama. How cute. Gojyo shrugged, a wry smile twisting his face. Too bad for the monkey. Life's a struggle in which it's every man for himself. The chimp'd have to learn that sooner or later. He leaned forward, placing his weight on his left foot, and managed to lift himself, using both hands, into an awkward crouch. Grimacing, he contemplated hopping all the way to the bath tent.

The medic suddenly appeared with a pair of crutches and dropped them unceremoniously on the bed next to Gojyo. "Don't come back till you've cleaned up properly. I don't want you leaving mud everywhere. This is a medical facility, you know."

Gojyo rolled his eyes, face frozen in an irritated smile. "Thanks, buddy. I'll keep that in mind." Hakkai was chuckling, but he did pick the crutches up and hand them to Gojyo, who levered himself up onto them with one determined heave.

Grunting and swaying gently, Gojyo smiled down at Hakkai. "I'll be back in a bit, man. Don't let the weasel give away my bed."

Hakkai smiled in return, a genuine smile, and tipped his head toward the tent flaps. "It looks like you might want to hurry, if you really want that bath." Goku and Nu had already left, and Sanzo was hovering impatiently at the entrance, scowling over his shoulder. "And believe me," Hakkai continued, wrinkling his nose slightly, "you want that bath." Hakuryu's tongue flickered briefly, then it nodded its little white head smugly. Cheeky bastard.

Gojyo tilted his head in acknowledgment, because shrugging was kinda hard with crutches, and swung his way to the tent flaps. When he got there, panting slightly, he grinned at the irate blond. "Thanks for waiting for me, Sanzo-chan."

"Shut up and get moving. If the water's cold by the time we get there—"

"Hai, hai," Gojyo grunted, and swung right past him.

Unfortunately for them, the bath tent was more or less on the margins of the camp, set aside somewhat from the other tents. By the time they got there, Gojyo was very much winded and shaking just a bit. "Flip the sign," he panted, nodding his head in the appropriate direction. Sanzo complied wordlessly, the sign now reading "occupied." The guy had been remarkably quiet the whole way over, actually, and it was kind of bugging Gojyo. It meant that, between sweating and cursing breathlessly at his recalcitrant leg, he couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. He figured that more or less made his mind a traitor.

Inside the tent, he hobbled over to the nearer of the two baths, and sat down heavily on the stool placed next to it. Vapor was still rising off the surface of the water, which was reassuring, really. If he'd heaved himself all the way out here, he sure as hell wanted a _hot_ bath. After he caught his breath, he looked up and noticed that Sanzo had already made his way around to the other side of the shower curtain stand. Soft grunts and vague rustling sounds suggested that the guy wasn't wasting any time.

Sighing a bit, Gojyo tugged the buttons free on his shirt, then shrugged out of it. Staring down at his trousers in dismay, he made as much headway as he could, and then glared furiously at his right trouser leg and sock. Water vapor was no longer rising from his bath, and he could hear splashes on the other side of the curtain. He was really hating long legs right about now. Finally, he managed to yank the offending items off using the toes of his left foot. Dexterity counted for something, after all.

Grinning smugly, Gojyo levered himself up and tried to swing himself into the tub. After several contortions, he finally fell into the tub in a graceless heap, spilling water everywhere and whimpering pitifully when his right leg got jostled rather violently. "Nnnn! Dammit!! Shit, shit, shit!" he grunted, clutching his throbbing leg.

The shower curtain rattled sharply as it was dragged out of the way, and two startled, concerned violet eyes stared back at him. Gojyo grinned weakly and waved at the dripping blond hanging half out of the other tub. "'M fine," he lied.

Sanzo scowled briefly, a thin trail of smoke rising from the cigarette dangling loosely from his lips. "Then stop making a mess." His eyes traveled pointedly toward the dripping shower curtain.

"Actually," Gojyo gasped, his arm outstretched, "d'ya mind handing me the soap? I don't think I can reach it from here." He could feel new bruises forming already.

Sanzo grunted and obligingly dug the soap out of its dish and handed it over.

"Thanks, man." Gojyo started soaping his battered chest and arms, feeling the grime of the last day and a half finally starting to rub off, but the smell of the Hi-lite was distracting him. He paused and turned toward Sanzo again, only to find he was being watched. Huh. "So, uhh, where'd you get that, anyway?" he asked, pointing at the cigarette.

Sanzo shrugged and rubbed the soap half-heartedly in his hands. "Goku."

Gojyo's brow furrowed. "Seriously!? Where'd the monkey get it?" Shifting uncomfortably, he thought to himself that this bathtub wasn't as comfortable as the one he'd had the day before. He eyed Sanzo's bathtub covetously.

"Who knows?" Sanzo set the soap down and started rubbing his toes, a wry smile stretching across his face. "Probably the same place he got the chocolate."

"Hmph," Gojyo snorted and set his soap down on his chest. "Any chance I could have one?" he asked casually, rinsing his hands off in the bathwater. Man, he was so craving a smoke. Why couldn't Goku raid backpacks for him?

Sanzo's head disappeared from sight briefly as he bent over to drag the packet out of his jeans. Gojyo could barely believe his luck. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Sanzo this relaxed and obliging. When the blond's head reappeared, he was holding a second cigarette in his hands and lighting it on the end of his. Gojyo watched, mesmerized, his chin resting on the edge of the tub, bath forgotten. In fact, his mind was so focused on watching Sanzo's face and hands that he almost missed it when the new cigarette was waved in front of his face. "Hey! You want it or not?"

The irritated growl snapped him out of his daydream, and he quickly snatched the offering, taking a long drag on it. "Oh, yeah. That hits the spot," he grunted, blowing a smoke ring and closing his eyes so he could bask in the pleasure and cover for his slip earlier. He shifted again, trying to get comfortable, and stared up at the kerosene lamp hanging overhead.

"Sorry about the whole passing-out thing earlier," Gojyo murmured, eyes still fixed on the flickering flame in the lamp and hands hunting around absently for the soap. "The gills and the night vision are kinda hard on my system, yanno. And I'd never tried them both at the same time before."

"Hnn," Sanzo grunted noncommittally. Dammit! The bastard was ignoring him. Gojyo frowned and whipped his head around to glare at the blond stretched out in the other tub. The priest's eyes were closed and his bruised knees were poking up over the tub's rim. Gojyo wanted to shake him. Hard.

"Whaddaya mean 'hnn'?" Gojyo demanded, slinging both arms over the side of the tub and waving them around for emphasis. "I'm trying to apologize here, you ungrateful bastard!" He didn't know why he even cared, but, for some reason, it really bugged him that Sanzo didn't give a toss one way or another. He could feel his face growing hot, and his frown deepened.

Sanzo's eyes flicked open at that, and his head floated over so his chin rested on his folded arms, perched on the edge of the tub. His eyes gleamed oddly, but that might just have been the lighting. "I thought it was the kiss, actually, that did you in," he answered in a maddeningly calm voice, then shrugged casually. "It was a pretty crappy kiss, too," he added as an afterthought.

"Ah ha! So you admit there was one!" Gojyo shouted triumphantly, pointing his finger at the dripping blond head in the bath next to his. Then his brain and his mouth resynched. "Wa-wa-wait a minute! Whaddaya mean my kisses _suck!?"_

"I mean, your kiss sucked, and then you passed out," Sanzo explained patiently. "From shame, no doubt." A chunk of ash flaked off the end of the blond's cigarette and fell, unheeded, to the ground between them.

Gojyo's face flamed, incensed. "Oh, yeah?" he growled, waving his hands in a bring-it-on gesture. "Well get your lazy butt over here, you bastard, and then we'll see who sucks!" Scowling deeply, he muttered, "Shame, my ass!"

"No." Sanzo's sharp eyes had narrowed, and his head was titled slightly to the side, measuring Gojyo.

"Whaddaya mean 'no'!?" Gojyo growled, trying to shove himself across the intervening space between the two baths. The throbbing of his right leg forced him to sink back into his tub and settle for simply flipping Sanzo the bird. "You started this, dammit! You owe me a chance to defend my honor. Now get your goddamn butt over here so I can kiss your damn socks off!"

A slow smile pulled at the edges of Sanzo's face. "Fine," he announced calmly, tossing his cigarette away and yanking his towel off the shower curtain with a sharp snap before tucking it firmly in place around his hips.

"Y-yeah, fine," Gojyo grunted, feeling inexplicably wrong-footed as Sanzo suddenly appeared looming over him. "The bastard's trying to play chicken with you," he told himself. "Don't let him get the better of you." Clinging to his indignation, Gojyo scowled and concentrated on the vivid violet eyes that were suddenly level with his as Sanzo knelt, dripping wet, next to his tub.

Tense and confused, but determined not to back down from this, whatever it was, Gojyo managed to lean forward the last couple of inches separating their faces. At the last second, though, his courage gave out, and he closed his eyes, allowing instinct and muscle memory to take over, guiding him through the familiar motions when he couldn't think beyond the ridiculous observation that Sanzo tasted remarkably like a Hi-lite. The kiss was warm and wet and terribly surreal. He felt that, any second now, he was going to wake up, or Sanzo was going to slug him.

It'd been months, though, since he'd last kissed someone like this, and he found himself relaxing into it after a bit, especially when Sanzo was being so cooperative ... enthusiastic, even ... if a bit clumsy. Gojyo grunted when teeth grazed his lips. Reaching out to tilt Sanzo's head to a better angle, he suddenly felt firm hands on his shoulders pushing him away. His eyes flew open in surprise as he reached for something to steady himself. Sanzo was clutching his towel around his waist and stumbling awkwardly to his feet. "H-hey, what gives?" Gojyo panted, clenching his fists.

"My knees are sore," Sanzo grunted, his back already turned as he made his way back to his own tub, "and it's fucking cold in here." Well, the guy was shivering a bit, and the water in the tub was definitely getting cooler. The rattle of the shower curtain being dragged unceremoniously back into place left Gojyo staring, open-mouthed, at the plain, opaque plastic.

Snorting softly, Gojyo shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that he'd been played somehow, somewhere along the line, but, in the end, it had been a pretty incredible kiss, so it hardly mattered. Fishing around in the tub, he found the bar of soap, much diminished after its long soak, and began scrubbing briskly at the easily accessible areas.

"You'd better hurry up and get your hair before the water gets cold," Sanzo called out from the other side of the curtain.

"Yeah, yeah," Gojyo grumbled, moving on to his left leg and scowling irritably at his stubbornly filthy right foot. As he looked down at the opaque bathwater, he grimaced. Showers were infinitely preferable, but beggars couldn't be choosers. His hands were moving mechanically, but his mind was racing, playing the kiss with Sanzo over and over in his head. He was definitely going to have to wrangle himself a repeat performance. But, first, he was going to wash his hair so he felt human again, and not just because his bossy boyfriend said to. Gojyo smiled crookedly and ducked his head underwater.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait, and I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Thank you so much for your support. Your thoughts and comments are deeply appreciated.

* * *

"Maaaan, I knew I shoulda kept up with the weight lifting." 

"If you'd just _do_ more instead of slouching around all the time, you wouldn't _need_ to drag around a weight set."

"But it was my _favorite_ weight set, and you lost it in a card game!"

"Shut up. It was _pink,_ and I wouldn't have been playing at all if you'd been able to restrain yourself. Couldn't you _tell_ her brother was standing right behind you?"

"Noooo ... and that's so not the point!" Splashing and faint squeaking sounds were followed abruptly by a loud thump and more splashing. "AH! Dammit, that hurts! Shit!!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing over there!?"

Hakkai was amused by what sounded like the rattling of a shower curtain being yanked aside. Really, at least he knew he was heading toward the right tent. He could already hear the two of them bickering, and he wasn't even close to the tent's flaps yet.

"Oh, like I did it on _purpose,_ you bastard! Unlike you. You _wanted_ to get rid of those weights. You're just jealous of my perfect bod—WHOA! Ow ow ow ow OW! Watch the leg, will ya!? It's fucking broken, yanno!"

Hakkai panted, sweat beading on his forehead, as he loped the last few feet to the tent's entrance. Really, he couldn't leave those two alone for a minute. He had no idea how they'd managed to avoid killing each other while he'd been out of commission.

"Quit whining and cover yourself _up_ already, dammit!" A loud thwap punctuated the demand, and Hakkai stumbled through the tent flaps moments later, one hand clutching a wad of clothes and the other clinging to the tent flap for support. He hated to admit it, but his body still hadn't recovered properly, which left him feeling decidedly winded, dizzy, and drained of energy.

A dripping Gojyo was perched awkwardly on a low stool, sulking, his arms crossed and a crumpled towel bunched up in his lap as he leaned heavily against the side of the tub for support. Vivid red strands of hair clung to his flushed face, and his neck was twisted around to scowl at Sanzo's stiff back. Sanzo, for his part, was facing the tent wall, his back to Gojyo and his arms crossed defensively. He looked a bit flushed too, and, despite the fact that his towel was tucked firmly around his waist, water dripped down his chest and arms. Neither of them seemed to have registered Hakkai's presence. And they didn't seem to be in imminent danger of ... killing each other. At least, not yet.

"Well, what about you, then!? Put some fucking clothes on yourself, if you're so bloody sensitive!" Gojyo had yanked a corner of the towel out of his lap and started rubbing himself down vigorously, although he seemed to be carefully avoiding undue exposure. Hakkai frowned, perplexed. Gojyo wasn't exactly what he'd call shy.

Sanzo spun around and scowled. "_I'm_ not the one who couldn't even get out of the bathtub by himself." Gojyo rolled his eyes and casually flipped Sanzo the bird, his other hand still busy toweling himself off.

"And it's not like I have a robe to change _into,_ thanks to you," Sanzo continued, flushing slightly, his left hand clutching the knot in his towel.

That was Hakkai's cue to step in, really, especially since his legs were traitorously giving out on him. He coughed pointedly. "Actually, we thought you might have forgotten these." Dangling his fistful of spare clothes helpfully, Hakkai managed to stay upright for another few seconds before collapsing rather heavily in the grass just inside the tent's entrance. Hakuryu kyuued in concern and nuzzled Hakkai's chin encouragingly.

Sanzo froze for second before snorting and striding over to snatch the offered clothes. "You were taking so long, we thought you might have drowned," Hakkai continued, smiling sunnily up at Sanzo, who ignored him and tossed the kappa's spare clothes over his shoulder. They landed at Gojyo's feet, just out of reach.

"Thanks a lot, bastard," Gojyo grunted as he hopped awkwardly forward to drag the clothes over to his stool. Sanzo had already made his way to the other side of the shower curtain and yanked it back into place. "You gonna be okay there, man?" he asked Hakkai, glancing up as he slid his legs into a comfortable pair of loose jeans.

Hakkai nodded and rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "I just get tired really easily. It's a bit maddening when I can't quite manage to make my body cooperate, but I'm already feeling much better than I was before."

Gojyo stared at him, hard, for a couple of seconds. "Yeah, you're gonna be fine." He smiled crookedly as he dragged a tank top over his head. His stomach growled. Loudly. "Aaaah," he grunted, stretching. "Time to recharge, yeah? We can't let the monkey clean them out all by himself."

"Oi!" he called over his shoulder as he slid his crutches into place. "You coming or what?" Turning back to Hakkai, who had managed to regain his feet, he grinned. "Man, what is it with priests and layers?"

Hakkai covered his mouth with one hand, but his eyes gave him away. "It's a uniform," a gravely baritone ground out. Gojyo twisted around to see Sanzo settling the holy scripture across his shoulders. Privately, Gojyo thought the robe looked more like a dress, and he couldn't imagine that leather armor or jeans were part of the official "uniform" of a sanzo priest, but he didn't say a word because, somehow, the unlikely ensemble was _Sanzo's_ uniform, and that was enough.

A warm hand reached up and tucked a wayward strand of red hair back into place. "Sloppy," was all Sanzo said before he strode past them and out of the tent.

Feeling dizzier than he had a moment before, Gojyo gave himself a couple of deep breaths before he forced a scowl to replace his inexplicably silly grin. Hakkai was smiling at him oddly, so Gojyo hurriedly swung forward on his crutches and began complaining loudly and bitterly about worldly priests who just let the sick and injured STARVE.

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Sanzo reached for a meat bun, only to have it snatched out from under his hand. He wouldn't have minded so much, except it was the THIRD time this had happened, and he was hungry, dammit! This was why he hated communal meals, especially when he had to compete with Goku, the bottomless stomach, and Gojyo, who seemed to be under the mistaken impression that eating was a competitive sport. Growling threateningly, Sanzo caught one of the kappa's roving fingers between his chopsticks. Poaching was a nasty habit, after all, and he was in no mood to indulgently ignore it just now. Lifting the offending hand away from the plate of pickled plums sitting in front of him, he reached with his other hand for the bowl of ramen. Goku already had one hand on the rim of the bowl, but it retreated hastily when Sanzo glared at him.

"Uh, Sanzo-chan, can I have my finger back now? It's just that I'm STARVING here, and if you're quite through—"

"Where's the mayonnaise?" Sanzo demanded, tucking the bowl of ramen comfortably within his sphere of influence. When the redhead had the audacity to try to yank his finger free, Sanzo squeezed it once, hard, then let it drop.

"Che!" Gojyo scowled before sucking accusingly on the injured digit. It was such a pathetic display of childish sulkiness that Sanzo couldn't help staring in disapproval. His chopsticks suddenly seemed irrationally heavy, and his face felt unusually warm. Dammit! Why the hell were things getting worse!? He'd thought that if he actually indulged himself, the whole sordid mess would lose its appeal, or, at the very least, be held off until he could come up with a better plan. Instead, he'd had to turn tail and run, and now he was having more trouble focusing than ever. It was maddening, and it was all that damned kappa's fault. Sanzo shot a venomous glare Gojyo's way just to let him know that he was by no means winning.

Hakkai laughed quietly, his face relaxing and his eyes softening. "It's better not to provoke him, Gojyo-san. Here, have some of these pickled Brussels sprouts. They're good for you." When Hakkai lifted one of the green monstrosities with his chopsticks and waved it under Gojyo's nose, Sanzo stiffened and his eyes narrowed. The kappa's face contorted and he shook his head violently. Yanking his finger free, he pushed the proffered vegetable away while holding his other hand in front of his mouth. "No, thanks. I'm plenty healthy as it is."

"Is that so?" Hakkai asked, his face serious but his eyes twinkling. "Well, then I guess I'll just have to share them with Hakuryu instead." The white dragon kyuued triumphantly and snatched the proffered vegetable with relish. Gojyo grimaced.

When the sandy-haired soldier, Newbie or whatever, tapped him on the shoulder, Sanzo almost jumped. He'd been so focused on the stupid water sprite that he'd lost track of his surroundings. Glaring, he twisted his head around to see what the soldier wanted. Newbie set a jar of mayonnaise down next to the bowl of ramen, a knowing look on his face and the beginnings of a smirk on his face. Sanzo ground his teeth and yanked the cap off the jar with a vicious twist of his wrist. Snatching one of the black plastic spoons lying in a heap in the middle of the table, he dished several large helpings into the bowl of ramen.

"Awww, man, that's just not fair!" Gojyo whined, spotting Sanzo's clever maneuver. Giving up on the ramen as a lost cause, Gojyo reached clear across the table to snatch the last meat bun. He had to knock Goku's hand out of the way, but he did manage to take a bite out of it before Goku bit him. "Oi! Chimp-boy!" Gojyo complained around a mouthful of food, "I am NOT on the menu. First come, first served!"

Tucking the mayonnaise-laden ramen into his mouth quickly, before the baka-tachi decided to try the concoction anyway, Sanzo heard the mess tent's flaps rustle and footsteps draw near. The murmur of voices from the other tables stopped abruptly as all the soldiers scooted their chairs back and rose to their feet to salute. Sanzo reached for the tea pot and poured himself a generous serving. Hakuryu was nudging the soy sauce closer to Hakkai, and Gojyo and Goku were currently involved in a wrestling match.

"As you were." The soldiers sat back down and resumed their interrupted conversations, and Tenjo pulled up a chair next to Newbie. "I've just come from the village, and it appears we have quite the venerable guests here with us today." Sanzo could feel the man looking in their direction. His eyes narrowed as he poked at his ramen. What the hell was the man up to?

"I was informed that a certain Buddhist priest, a priest who fits the description of the legendary Priest Genjyo Sanzo, rescued two village boys last night," Tenjo continued. "It seems this Genjyo Sanzo is well known in Shangri-La as a holy man who defends the people against the evil youkai hordes." Tenjo snorted a bit, and Sanzo ground his teeth. "Last night, the village leader came to us willing to offer anything in exchange for his sons' safety, so it would've been great if we could've brought them back ourselves. After all, we're still short on our iron-ore quota." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But, instead, they snuck past all our patrols on their way in _and_ on their way out, and got rescued by a famous priest instead. Now the village can't talk about anything else. They think this great sanzo priest is going to save them. After he reads them a few inspirational scriptures, that is."

Tenjo glanced pointedly at Sanzo, who lifted his head to glare back at the man. "Lucky you. You're a hero, my friend." Sanzo massaged a throbbing temple and wished fervently that he wasn't surrounded by idiots.

"Wait, Yun and Wai made it back okay?" Gojyo asked, releasing Goku and thereby forfeiting the second half of the contested meat bun. "What about their friend, what's-his-name?"

"Apparently their friend made it back with them, but he's still unconscious. I left him in Lieutenant Li's very competent hands, so I'm sure he'll be fine." Tenjo was smiling. Sanzo transferred his glare to Gojyo. He opened his mouth to tell the both of them, in no uncertain terms, that they were NOT staying and that he was, by no means, going to be reading scriptures to anyone who wasn't already DEAD, dammit!

"Well, that's a relief. I mean, when we got ambushed by that weird mist and started getting shot at, I figured they were goners for sure." Gojyo seemed to be ignoring Sanzo, which was completely unacceptable. The redhead frowned a bit and slid his hair away from his face. Sanzo couldn't help staring and hated himself for it. "Wait, the gunshots. ... Were you guys shooting at us? 'Cause sneaking up on a guy like that is totally low. Besides, it's not like we did anything that awful. I mean, we drank some of your beer and stuff, but really—"

"Shut up! Just _shut up,_" Sanzo growled, massaging both temples, the ramen now completely forgotten. "I'm getting a headache, and your stupidity is making it worse." Gojyo flipped him the bird.

Nu leaned forward at that point. "The men we lost weren't anywhere near the abandoned section of the mines last night, so we weren't the ones who attacked you. In fact, my team was the only one actually inside the caves, and we never really left the main cavern." He turned away from Gojyo at that point and addressed his superior. "Captain Tenjo, we found Lieutenant Po and most of his men. They'd been ambushed on the tracks. We didn't find any survivors, but two of Po's men are still missing."

Tenjo frowned and rubbed a hand across his mouth. "I see. I assume you conducted a thorough search before you left the area."

Nu nodded emphatically. "Yes, sir. We executed search pattern alpha, and, after three hours of intensive searching, I called it off to avoid any further casualties. With respect, sir, my men are exhausted. We transported the soldiers' remains and the mined iron ore back to camp, and I sent one of the medics over to have a look at the bodies we were able to recover."

Tenjo nodded several times absentmindedly. "Good work, Nu. Make sure you and your men get rested up. We're going to need you to take third shift tonight." Nu sighed and nodded, resigned.

"Wait, so, if you guys didn't attack us, then who did? Man, freaking everybody has guns around here." Gojyo was leaning forward, his chin propped in his hand and his elbow resting in the middle of a puddle of spilled tea. The tea appeared to have been a casualty of the meat-bun war. What a mess.

Sanzo grimaced, then felt the corners of his mouth turn up a bit. Why the hell did he find the kappa's obliviousness endearing? It wasn't endearing. It was pathetic. Food fights were for children and wild animals. God, he was being infected with the stupid. He sank down so his chin rested on one of his hands, then twisted his hand around so his traitorous mouth was no longer visible.

"They were probably youkai," he grunted, forcing himself to rejoin the conversation. He managed to turn his head away from Gojyo, but only long enough to discover that Goku had passed out, his head pillowed on an outstretched arm as he snored gently.

Sanzo dragged a packet of Marlboro reds out of his pocket and lit one. As he drew in the first calming wave of nicotine, he reflected that it was just as well for all involved that he'd kept some spares in the jeep. "That fog had a definite edge to it," Sanzo continued, turning to Hakkai, whose face had hardened in concerned concentration. "They were probably even the same youkai who ambushed the soldiers, which would explain how they got the rifles."

"It takes skill and power to create a fog, especially a heavy one, which means your assailant was fairly powerful. I assume you didn't catch sight of the person responsible." Hakkai's hands were steepled, and a frown had settled in. Hakuryu kyuued in concern and licked his face.

"That's right! The cowardly assholes just dropped this really thick fog on us and then started taking potshots without so much as a 'by your leave,'" Gojyo ranted, outraged. Damn. The bastard was even cute when he was worked up. Sanzo frowned and forced himself to focus on Hakkai.

"Wait," Tenjo barked, grabbing Nu's arm. "What does he mean the youkai had rifles?"

"Uhhh," Nu shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, sir. I'm just ... having trouble focusing." He took a deep breath and continued, head bowed, "When we found the bodies, they'd been stripped of all weaponry. Several of them appeared to have been slashed, a few dismembered, and some had even been shot."

"Shot," Tenjo repeated, his fist clenching. He released Nu's arm. "Anything else?"

"I ... I don't think so, sir."

"I see. You're dismissed, Sergeant Nu."

"Yes, sir." Nu rose to leave and turned to go.

Tenjo grabbed Nu's sleeve, holding him in place. "Get some sleep, Nu. That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

"And, if you remember anything else, do let me know, won't you?"

"Yes, sir." Tenjo released him, and Nu left, only stumbling slightly as he made his way through the mess-tent flaps.

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Kougaiji was lying on his back on the cold stone floor. Theoretically, he was meditating, but since he couldn't actually manage to find his center, or even concentrate on anything other than picturing the charred remains of that depraved human scientist, he supposed he was really just restless and frustrated and trying not to wake up his little sister. At least she had been fed properly for the last few days. When he saw her relaxed face and her even breathing, he could almost convince himself that it had been worth it, humiliating himself before that worm, Ni, but then red-hot anger boiled to the surface again and he ended up enduring another sleepless night.

When the doors to his prison swished open behind him, he managed to restrain himself and remain motionless where he was. If it was Ni coming to gloat again, Kougaiji certainly wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of responding. The door hissed as it closed once again. He closed his eyes and imagined leaping to his feet, dashing to the door, and tearing the smirking bastard limb from limb.

What he certainly had _not_ been expecting was to hear Dokugaku's concerned voice calling his name. Kougaiji's eyes flew open, and he whipped around so he landed crouched, balanced on the balls of his feet, his arms hanging loosely, ready for anything. This couldn't be real. The bastard Ni was just messing with his head again.

"K-Kou? It's me. Your unworthy servant, Dokugakuji." Kougaiji froze and hesitated, his eyes narrowing. It certainly _looked_ like Dokugaku. The figure before him was on its knees, head bowed low, but the eyes that were raised to meet his were dark with guilt and concern. Kougaiji relaxed marginally, but he frowned as he straightened, confused. If this really was Dokugakuji, how the hell had he gotten in here, and what did that mean?

Dokugakuji rose slightly and held out a thick pair of handcuffs in both his hands. "I ... I'm terribly sorry, my lord."

Kougaiji stared at them, feeling even more bewildered, then met Dokugakuji's eyes full on, his gaze hard, demanding. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Your mother ... Lady Rasetsunyo ... We can set her free at last, my lord." Dokugakuji's eyes strayed to the column at the far end of the room.

Kougaiji's eyes narrowed. "What? With these?" He gestured distrustfully toward the handcuffs still clutched in Dokugaku's hands.

"Exactly," a voice called over the intercom. It was a woman's voice, not Ni's. Kougaiji transferred his glare to the nearest camera. "You can have your mother and your freedom. I'll even set your minions free." He knew that voice. That was Ni's flunky.

"What's the catch?" Kougaiji demanded suspiciously. His thought were whirling. Was it really possible? Could he finally set his mother free? And what would he have to barter in exchange for this, his heart's desire?

"My lord, we just need to retrieve Priest Sanzo's scripture." Yaone! Kougaiji's heart leapt into his throat. He hadn't heard from either of them since his imprisonment began weeks ago, and he'd feared the worst.

His instincts were still radiating caution, though. After all, wasn't this the same as the original deal he'd made with Koushu? And why weren't Koushu and Ni involved? "Then why the handcuffs?"

"Insurance." Ni's flunky again. Kougaiji gritted his teeth. "Lady Lirin stays here until you return with the Maten sutra. After that, you can take her and never come back, for all I care."

"Absolutely not," Kougaiji growled, power crackling through his veins. He could feel his hair standing on end as his anger surged. How could Dokugaku and Yaone even contemplate this? He would _not_ abandon his own sister. He couldn't.

"My lord!" Dokugakuji exclaimed, leaping to his feet and reaching out, concern etched into every feature. The palpable fury emanating from Kougaiji's glare stopped him short, and his hand fell.

"Oh, come _on._ This is the best deal you're going to get. I could always just leave your mother there and send your minions out right now. I don't _have_ to set her free, you know." Ni's flunky did have a point. But how could he leave his sister?

"Do it, Onii-chan. Lirin can take care of herself, nyah." Lirin was on her feet, hands planted on her hips as she faced him down fearlessly. Dammit, when had she woken up? "Your mother needs you," she said simply, then walked past him. He was too stunned to move. She grabbed the handcuffs and slipped them over her own hands, snapping them awkwardly into place. "Okay, hurry up and set Onii-chan's mom free now." She held her hands up high so that they were in plain view of the security cameras.

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Sanzo's restless feet carried him down yet another temple corridor. It didn't matter which way he turned; every one was filled with an impenetrable wall of fog that seemed to be clouding his mind as well. The urgency of his search spurred him on, and he started walking faster, turning corners randomly. He'd lost something, something important, and if he didn't find it soon, he'd lose it forever. Clutching his pistol in his left hand and feeling his way along the wall with his right, he tried once again to remember what it was that he'd lost.

It wasn't his sensei's scripture. That was settled firmly across his shoulders. He reached up again to touch it, reassuring himself that it was still present. Whipping around another corner, he wracked his brain to come up with something, anything else that was important to him. Goku. No, he'd left Goku in his room, hadn't he? The chimp had been curled up in a muddy tangle of limbs with the mutt he'd found. He was sure of it. So, what was it, then? What was the hell was he missing?

The ground suddenly became uneven, and Sanzo wondered whether he'd somehow managed to leave the temple grounds. It was impossible to tell when the fog was this thick, and his head was throbbing so hard that he could barely think at all. Something was missing. Something important. His breath started coming in jagged gasps, and he felt his shoulder brush against jagged stone. This only increased his panic, compelling him to increase his pace to an uneven run as his mind dimly registered that he was most definitely no longer in the temple. The cave walls tore at him and forced him to duck, even crawl, but every obstacle only increased his desperation as he scrambled along at an ever-increasing pace.

Finally, chest heaving, gasping, he tripped over a ledge and landed face-first in a heap on the cave floor. Shoving himself to his feet and gripping his pistol tightly as he swept it right and left, he felt the brush of a clinging strand against his hand. Backing up slowly and deliberately, Sanzo strained his eyes to see something, anything in this dense fog, but it remained maddeningly impenetrable. Straining his senses, he thought he felt a feather-light touch on his shoulders accompanied by a soft rustling sound alarmingly close to his ears. He stiffened, then realized the familiar weight of his scripture was gone. Gone! Hissing laughter was followed by prodding claws shoving him from behind. Whirling around, he fired wildly spreading his shots out in the hopes that one of them would find a mark. His shots echoed oddly, rumbling and reverberating, then a bright flash of light exploded in front of him, banishing the fog so that he could see, in crystal-clear clarity, the eight-legged monstrosity crouching on the wall above him and the crumpled, lifeless heap at his feet, its spreading pool of crimson rushing out to meet familiar twisted, blood-red strands of hair.

Sanzo's eyes flew open wide as he screamed past the impossibly tight lump in his throat and shoved himself bolt upright, fighting off the paralysis that had held him in place. Holy shit! A sharp crackle was followed by a rolling rumble. His breath came in uneven gasps, and his whole body shuddered as the rain poured relentlessly all around him, beating on the roof and sides of the tent. A second crack of thunder rolled through and was followed by another flash of lightning. Dammit!

Sanzo scrubbed his face with his hands, his body still shaking. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he hugged his arms around himself and glared at the grass beneath his feet. After he'd had a few minutes to calm down, when his heart had stopped racing quite so hard and fast, he decided that what he really needed was a cup of hot tea and a smoke because it was abundantly clear that sleeping was no longer an option.

As he shrugged his robe on over his shoulders and tied his sash firmly in place, he counted himself lucky that nobody had been around to hear him make a fool of himself screaming the kappa's name. Insisting on separate tents hadn't made him popular, but dammit it had been worth it. Slipping on his sandals with a grimace—his feet were going to get drenched in this downpour—he patted his jeans pockets to be sure that his gun, cigarettes, and scripture were all present and accounted for.

Scowling and tucking his arms into the sleeves of his robe, he ducked through his tent flaps and strode purposefully out into the night. Somehow, even though he'd meant to head straight for the mess tent and the promise of hot tea, his legs acquired a mind of their own, and, before he even quite realized what was happening, he found himself ducking through an entirely different set of tent flaps.

He knew very well who was sleeping in this tent, and he had absolutely no business being here. None. So, he was just going to turn right back around and ... The sheets were rustling, and he thought he could hear soft grunts over the incessant pounding of the rain outside. For some reason, his treacherous feet had become rooted to the spot, locking him in place. What the hell did he think he was doing? It wasn't like he needed to see the kappa's face to know he'd been a victim of his own overactive imagination. This was stupid, so very stupid. And dangerous. He should go. Now. Right ... now.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Please note that the rating increased to "M" for this chapter. If you would prefer to read the "T" rated version of this chapter, please visit my homepage. A link is provided on my profile page.

Okay, now that I've gotten that off my chest, ummm, I'm pretty nervous about this chapter, so please let me know how I did. Thanks!

* * *

The thunder startled Gojyo, which sucked, really, because he'd been right in the middle of a pretty incredible dream. Sighing, he turned on his side, shut his eyes again, and listened to the rhythm of the rain drumming against the canvas overhead. It was soothing, in its own way, but the sharp cracks followed by rolling rumbles prevented him from actually being able to fall asleep again.

Shifting restlessly, he tried to force himself to relax. Instead, his mind insisted on replaying scenes from his dream and weaving in details from the bath earlier. He gasped and felt his body stiffen. Dammit! These things were so much harder to ignore now that he had something real to base them on.

After turning over another couple of times, he finally gave in and slid a hand in under his waistband. Oh, yeah. That was better, much better. His skin was warm and tense, and he could feel the tingling building and crackling as he settled into a rhythm. Squeezing his eyes shut, he could almost imagine that Sanzo was there with him, mouth moving against his, warm and wet and dangerous. His heart was racing, and his breath was coming in short, uneven gasps.

A flash of light and another burst of thunder distracted him just long enough for him to realize that he was no longer alone in the tent. He froze, his senses suddenly alert and prickling. Yanking his hand free, he shoved himself upright, his heart thudding in his chest for an entirely different reason.

Staring wide-eyed at the intruder, Gojyo gasped, clutching at the damp tank top hanging loosely over his chest. "Holy _shit,_ man! You scared the hell outta me." The instinctive relief he felt when he recognized Sanzo was quickly replaced by an overwhelming sense of mortification. "Don't sneak _up_ on a guy like that! You could've said something, dammit." The heated flush that had begun in his cheeks quickly spread as he wondered just how long Sanzo had been standing there.

A tense silence followed, in which Gojyo scratched his head and raked his fingers repeatedly through his hair, feeling disoriented, embarrassed, and increasingly awkward.

"I ... should go," Sanzo finally managed, his voice hoarse, but he didn't move.

Gojyo's brow furrowed, confusion compelling him to lift his eyes from the twisted fistfuls of blanket bunched up in his lap. Sanzo was shivering. Shit, man! The guy was dripping wet. And, suddenly, nothing else mattered. Sanzo was cold and wet and needed him, and that was more than enough. Rubbing his hand over his face, he stood and dragged the blanket off his bed. Feeling a bit wobbly himself, his right leg stiff but relatively solid, he ventured over to the silent figure and draped the blanket over shuddering shoulders. "Come on, man. You've come this far. It'd be rude to just up and leave now."

Maneuvering the dripping blond over to sit on the bed was surprisingly easy. Keeping his hands to himself afterward was, apparently, impossible. It started out innocently enough as an attempt to dry Sanzo off with the edges of the blanket, but his initial brisk movements somehow evolved into slow, tentative brushes of fingertips over sharp cheekbones. By the time he'd realized what he was doing, he couldn't quite bring himself to stop, his fingers flitting past ears and sliding along stretches of damp skin, strands of wet hair parting and falling back into place.

Before he quite realized what was happening, he found himself tangled up in an awkward pile of limbs, mostly horizontal but hardly stable as the bed was really only meant to hold one adult. Strong arms were wrapped around him, and roving hands were clutching at him fiercely, rubbing up and down his back and arms, squeezing his shoulders, tangling in his hair. Dizzy and flushed, high on the adrenaline racing through him, Gojyo's hands roamed freely, touching everything within reach, his legs engaged in a fierce battle for balance as they jockeyed for position. He had to catch his breath in short gasps between the rough, sloppy kisses that left him feeling even more desperate.

Sanzo had managed to lose the robe somewhere along the way, which was a real plus because, even though he was feeling flushed and sweaty, the thing was damned cold when it was soaked through like that. Also, it made it easier for Gojyo to run his hands up and down the leather armor underneath. Damn, he'd wanted to do that for forever. The thought brought him up short even as Sanzo dove in for another demanding kiss, hands digging into his shoulders. If they were gonna do this, he wanted to make it count.

His hands slipped down lower, leaving the leather behind to tackle the jeans, popping the button open expertly and drawing down the zipper. Here, at least, he was on solid ground. The next part was a bit trickier. Sanzo pulled back suddenly and very nearly shoved Gojyo off the bed.

Ow. He'd kind of been expecting that. "Whoa, whoa. Easy there," he murmured. "You're gonna like this. I promise, okay?" His breath was coming in uneven gasps, and he was really hoping he could pull this off. Chicks had gone down on him before, obviously, but he'd never actually tried the maneuver himself. When Sanzo didn't immediately chuck him off the bed, he leaned back in and gave it his best shot. It was a bit awkward on a narrow camp bed, and it was lot messier than he'd thought it would be, but he did have natural talent, after all, so overall it went pretty well.

Except for the last bit. "Dammit, man! You could've warned me!" He leaned back on his knees and rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. "It's fucking _bitter!"_ The taste wasn't that bad, not really, but the principle of the thing bugged him. After all, here he was being considerate and all, and Sanzo didn't even have the decency to return the favor.

"Sh-shut the h-hell ... up," Sanzo gasped, "I ... I didn't ..." His voice was hoarse and breathless, still thick and a bit dazed as he struggled to sit up.

Gojyo grinned as he pushed the heaving chest back down. "Nah, 's okay, man. Just give us a kiss and make it all better." He leaned over and tried to snag one, but he got deflected, and, after a brief struggle, Sanzo ended up lying half on top of him with a hand down his shorts.

Gojyo quit struggling. Well okay, then. He could deal with that, especially since it was quickly becoming obvious that Sanzo had mastered this particular skill.

It took a few minutes, but he did eventually get his kiss. Sanzo said it was just to make him shut up, but Gojyo was damned if he could figure out how being thoroughly snogged was supposed to discourage him from doing anything. It hardly mattered, though, really, as they both lay there panting softly, limbs hopelessly entangled, the wind whistling through the trees and the rain falling steadily all around them.

The contented feeling drained away after a bit, though, along with his body heat, leaving Gojyo shifting restlessly as he tried to avoid long, damp, jeans-clad legs. "I'm cold," he grumbled, shivering in his rumpled tank top and sticky shorts.

"Then get the damned blanket already and shut up," Sanzo hissed, huddling in on himself. Stupid bastard. Gojyo shivered again and decided it wasn't worth quibbling over. Dragging the blanket out from under the bed, he scowled at the shivering priest and, reluctantly, draped it over both of them, muttering all the while about stubborn gits who were too lazy for their own damned good.

Sometime later, Gojyo opened his eyes and realized he was nestled up against a warm Sanzo, his left arm thrown possessively across the man's chest. It felt real, too, with pins and needles tingling in his right arm and damp jeans rubbing up against his legs. Strong fingers were combing through his hair, and he thought he really could get used to that. Several drowsy minutes later, he leaned over to steal a kiss. Sanzo didn't resist, but the fingers stopped and pulled away. Figured.

Struggling to push himself up into a sitting position with his numb hand, Gojyo yawned and scratched his chest absentmindedly with the other. "So, uhhh," he mumbled, "what exactly did you want earlier? ... You know, when you showed up." He wasn't sure he really cared, but it was something to say.

"Hunh. Tea," Sanzo grunted, swinging his legs off the bed so he was sitting with his back to Gojyo.

"Mmm, sounds good, actually. I'll go with you," Gojyo yawned expansively and sat up as well, his back leaning against Sanzo's.

Stretching his arms out wide and arching his upper body, he suddenly found himself flat on his back, draped over the width of the camp bed, his support gone. Bastard.

"I don't need an escort," Sanzo growled irritably, bending over to shake out his rumpled robe.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry, it's still raining, and it's my blanket," Gojyo pointed out as he dragged his jeans on. His right arm still felt wooden, so it was a bit awkward, but, other than throbbing a bit, his right leg seemed serviceable. Hurrah for youkai healing powers. Now if he could only manage to scrounge up some coffee, he might not actually kill his grumpy boyfriend.

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The sprint through the rain hadn't really been all that bad, resembling as it had a demented attempt at a three-legged race as they dashed along, hunched over under an army-issue camouflage blanket, their hands bunched possessively around wads of cloth and shoulders casually jostling against each other. Of course, Sanzo, the selfish bastard, had hogged more than his fair share of the blanket, so Gojyo's hair and right side had gotten rather damp, but they'd made it to the mess tent more-or-less intact.

When they burst through the tent flaps together, Hakkai's face was priceless. His hands were frozen in mid-air, his eyes wide, as he stared at them. Gojyo blew a few loose strands of hair out of his face and grinned lazily up at his shocked friend.

"Yo!" he called out, waving cheerfully. Hakuryu's nose appeared over a stack of cookies and twin red eyes blinked twice at them as the dragon titled its head first one way and then the other. Kyuuing softly, the small white head butted Hakkai's motionless arm and stared up at him expectantly, its long tail twitching.

Sanzo took this opportunity to yank the blanket free, wrap it tightly around himself, and stalk over to one of the tables, where he promptly sat down and fished out a cigarette.

"Cheee! Stingy bastard." Gojyo shrugged and strode over to the counter where Hakkai was currently ignoring a whistling tea kettle. Lifting it off the burner, Gojyo fumbled around a bit before he managed to shake some tea leaves into a handy pot and pour hot water over them ... and all over the counter. His hand was still a bit numb. "At-cha-cha!" he whimpered as he danced away from the painful stream of liquid dripping down onto his socks.

"Gojyo-san," Hakkai admonished, finally recovering his composure, "what did we decide about you 'helping out' in the kitchen?" Firm hands snatched the tea kettle away from Gojyo and stern eyes frowned back at him. Dammit. Come on, man. Gojyo fidgeted, swiping distractedly at the widening puddle of water on the counter. Not now, not in front of His Insufferable Holiness.

"That he's completely useless and an utter nuisance?" Great. See what encouraging the bastard did? Now Blondie was joining in.

Scowling down at the watery mess oozing its way toward an unprotected sack of sugar, Gojyo took a deep breath and dragged twitching fingers through his damp hair. Turning to Hakkai, he grinned insincerely and waved the fingers of one hand. "My bad, my bad. I'll just ..." His eyes slid to the side. "Sit down over here," he continued, striding over to the table opposite Sanzo's, "and wait for someone _else_ to bring it _to_ me," he finished, flinging himself into an empty folding chair. Swinging his dirty boots up onto the table and crossing them, he glared meaningfully over at Sanzo, who, naturally, completely ignored him. Somehow, the bastard seemed to have found a discarded newspaper and was now using it as a shield.

After a few minutes of tipping back and forth in his folding chair, arms crossed and eyes fixed on the impenetrable wall of newsprint, Gojyo tilted his head back toward the staging area of the mess tent. "Oi, Hakkai," he called, "you got any coffee, man?"

Hakkai looked up from rearranging the stack of prepackaged cookies on the tray next to the tea pot. Hakuryu looked a bit put out. Gojyo sympathized. "Ah, yes," Hakkai answered absently. "It might be a bit bitter, though. It's been sitting there since the last of the medics left." Balancing the tea tray carefully, Hakkai gently nudged the dragon's questing nose away from the bowl of cream.

Gojyo shrugged, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Bitter's fine." The smile quickly spread as he watched the edges of the newspaper crinkle. Then a thought occurred to him. "So, uhh, Hakkai. How long have you been up, anyway? I thought you went to bed when we did. You know, right after dinner."

Hakkai set the tea tray down in front of Sanzo, who let the newspaper droop a bit as he poured himself a cup of tea. The priest had slipped on his reading glasses, and Gojyo was momentarily distracted by how incredibly cute the bastard looked with them perching on the end of his nose, effortlessly balancing his cigarette, a mug of tea, and the appropriated reading material.

"Ah, yes, well, I did." Hakkai's brow was faintly creased as he petted Hakuryu. "What was it you wanted, Gojyo?"

"Coffee!" Exasperated, Gojyo swung his boots back onto the ground. Dammit, why did everyone insist on spoiling the priest? And what the hell was up with Hakkai? Making his way back over to the staging area, Gojyo poured himself a cup of coffee. Grinding the heel of his boot surreptitiously over the black puddle in the grass, he looked up and caught a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye. What the hell had Sanzo been looking at? Was he planning on ratting him out to Hakkai?

Not that Hakkai was likely to notice; the guy really was acting a bit off. He was just kind of sitting at the table, stirring a cup of tea absently and stroking Hakuryu's head as the dragon gleefully sipped at the cream. Gojyo winced down at his coffee. He so didn't wanna share germs with the overgrown rat.

Settling himself heavily into a chair next to Hakkai, he shook the man's shoulder gently. "Oi, so what were the medics doing, then? Someone get hurt?" The mug of coffee was still in his hands, so he took a sip and instantly regretted it. It was _really_ bitter. Ew. Setting it down and pushing it across the table so he wouldn't be tempted again, he slung a companionable arm across Hakkai's shoulders and peered sharply at his friend's face. "Helllooooo. You in there, man?"

"Ah!" Hakkai looked startled and almost spilled his cup of tea. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

"Yeah. I wanted to know why you were up and hanging out with a bunch of medics. You feeling worse or something?" Gojyo prodded Hakkai's arm with one long finger.

"No, no, nothing like that," Hakkai rushed to assure him, his eyes regaining their focus. "I've nearly recovered, you know. I'm just a bit weak still." He paused and took a sip of his tea, his face hardening. "They came to ask for my help. They said they wanted to run a few tests on me. It ... ah," he paused, leaning forward to rest his chin on his folded hands, elbows propped up on the table. "It turns out they'd identified the poison used on Lieutenant Po's men, and it seemed to be similar to the poison used on me earlier."

"Similar?" Gojyo prompted, pouring himself some tea. This really didn't sound good, but at least it was keeping Hakkai talking and not brooding or spacing out or whatever. Plus, it had the added benefit of catching Sanzo's attention. The paper was drooping quite a bit now and the priest was frowning, cigarette dangling untended.

"Yes, apparently this new poison is a more stable version of the poison used on me earlier." Hakuryu lifted its dripping nose and kyuued plaintively, cocking its head at its master.

Gojyo hummed noncommittally. Sanzo's frown had evolved into a scowl. Gojyo dragged out a cigarette and tapped it impatiently against the tea tray. "Someone's got a real sick sense of humor."

Sanzo grunted in agreement, then glared at the manhandled cigarette. Digging out his lighter, he flicked it to life and offered it wordlessly to Gojyo. Absently responding to the gesture, Gojyo watched the tip flare and glow red. "If it makes you feel any better," he grunted, taking a long drag on his cigarette, "one of the damn spiders was impersonating my brother. Can you believe it?"

Hakkai's head swiveled around to face him. "Are you sure?" he asked, his face pale.

Gojyo frowned. "'Course I'm sure. The worst of it was, it was like the bastard knew me, like the damn spider was Jien's fucking evil twin brother or something. Pissed me right off." He shook ash off the end of his cigarette and kicked at a table leg. "I mean, how fucked up is that?"

Hakuryu had wound around one of Hakkai's arms and was alternately hissing and purring. Hakkai's hands were clenched around his mug of tea and his eyes were narrowed, dangerous. "Evil twin?" he asked, his voice hard. "I see. And you're sure it wasn't your brother?"

"Eh!?" Gojyo asked, startled. "What the hell, Hakkai!? He'd killed a bunch of kids, for cryin' out loud. Jien'd never do that. I don't care who he changed his name for!" Gojyo finished, sounding incensed.

"Yes," Hakkai murmured, eyes focused intently on the liquid in his mug. "Of course. Yaone would never do that. ... And yet, I was so sure it was her."

"Exactly! She'd never try to kill you, man!" Gojyo thumped his friend's shoulder encouragingly. "She's totally head-over-heels for you, you stud. You _know_ that. You've gotta _trust_ the people you love."

Hakkai's fingers convulsed around his tea cup, shattering it. Hakuryu kyuued in protest and snaked its head around to lap at the nicks on his hands.

Sanzo snorted, scowling at Gojyo. "Don't be so naive. She works for Kougaiji. What makes you think she wouldn't kill all of us if she had the chance? She's tried it before."

Gojyo stiffened and glared back at Sanzo, catching and holding his eyes. "Oh give it a rest, asshole. You know very well it wasn't her. You said so yourself."

"But I couldn't tell the difference!" Hakkai's choked voice cut in. "Why! _Why_ couldn't I?"

"Don't sweat it, man," Gojyo muttered, patting Hakkai's back awkwardly and glaring over at Sanzo. See what you did!? "Shit happens, you know? She didn't attack you right away, did she? Even Baldie here didn't notice she was a fake, and he's about as paranoid as they come." He grinned evilly back at Sanzo, craning his neck around Hakkai's bowed head so the priest would be sure to see. Gotcha, ya bastard!

Sanzo flipped him off, and Gojyo returned the favor. "Hnn. They're all just puppets, anyway." Blondie was frowning as he flicked the ash off to the side. "What I want to know is, who the hell is pulling the damn strings?"

Gojyo opened his mouth to protest, but Hakkai cut him off mid-rant. Shoving his chair back from the table, he stood, face set, deadly serious. "No, Sanzo's right, Gojyo. Whoever's using Yaone-san like this is unforgivable." Doubt still flickered fitfully in the depths, but anger had taken over, flaring brightly in Hakkai's narrowed eyes.

Gojyo stiffened, eyes widening. Man, Hakkai was _scary_ when he was pissed off. But, he conceded, face relaxing into a tight grin, it was much better than the alternative. Maybe Blondie knew what he was doing, after all.

Hakuryu looked up as it dropped the last tea cup shard in place on top of its painstakingly neat pile. "Kyuuuu?" Turning its head to the side, it blinked up at Hakkai, its red eyes shining.

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Gojyo had insisted he go back to his tent to get some sleep, and, eventually, Hakkai had allowed himself to be persuaded. Gojyo's face had relaxed, then, the worry lines fading, and that had been enough. It was unlikely that he'd actually be able to sleep at this point, but he might manage to regain his calm. Unfettered fury would not help Yaone right now, not when he didn't even know where to start looking for her. Hakuryu kyuued gently, nuzzling his cheek, and the rain fell steadily all around them, slowly soaking into the stiff fabric of the blanket.

The first explosion hit when he was within sight of his tent. It rocked the ground beneath him and lit up the sky in a brief but vivid flash. He stumbled slightly before catching his balance, his body alert but confused as he scanned the area. He knew it couldn't possibly have been thunder. That had stopped hours ago. And thunder didn't make the ground shake. But how could anyone possibly set off an explosion when it was this wet out? Granted, the rain had tapered off somewhat, but it was still falling steadily.

Soldiers were stumbling out of their tents now, some of them half-dressed. Voices raised, they shouted back and forth, a jumbled mess as they tried to pool information and decide what to do. Hakkai felt divided, himself. Should he go back to the mess tent? Someone should find Goku. Where was his tent again?

While Hakkai was frozen in place, a second explosion rocked the camp, sounding nearer. Debris started falling from the sky, and mass panic ensued. Shouted orders from superior officers were drowned out by screams, stampeding feet, and the unrelenting rustle of the rain. He found himself being pushed along by the press of bodies, first one way and then another. It was nearly impossible to see anything in all the mess, but he decided his best bet was to try to head back to the mess tent. Sanzo and Gojyo might still be there, or at least close by.

Five minutes later, his blanket long since lost to the madness, he had to admit that he was completely disoriented, and his maddeningly weak body was refusing to cooperate. Bodies barreled into him as they dashed past, seeking shelter or advancing to meet the threat. Thoroughly soaked now, his feet felt like lead as they slogged through the thick mud, and his cheek was stinging from the falling rock that had grazed it. Hakuryu's solid and reassuring warmth pressed up against his arm, anchoring him.

When the third explosion hit, he thought he caught sight of blond hair and white robes parting the sea of camouflage, but the flash of light was too brief to be sure. "Sanzo!" Hakkai called, lurching forward. "Sanzo, where's Goku!?" His voice barely made a dent in the roar of voices and screech of exploding metal.

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Hwan leaned forward intently, tracking Yaone's movements on the monitor screen. She'd been reluctantly impressed by the youkai's efficiency and ingenuity, and, now, it looked like she might actually succeed where everyone else had failed. In just under an hour, her wild gamble might actually pay off. If this worked, if it really panned out, she would be the sole possessor of four of the five Tenchi Kaigen scriptures. And she even knew the location of the last, the very last scripture. Surely, with four of the five, and a pleased Lady Koushu on her side, obtaining the fifth would be child's play ... and immensely satisfying.

Prying that disgusting bunny out of his cold, dead hands wouldn't erase the years of humiliation, but it would even the score. Somewhat. A small smile pulled at the edge of her lips as she scanned the other monitor screens, double-checking Ni's location.

When the first cursory pass revealed nothing, a thin line creased her brow. She'd been sure he was still flirting shamelessly with Lady Koushu in the throne room. What the hell? Calm, calm. She'd just have to look more carefully. He'd just escaped her notice the first time through. She hadn't focused properly.

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Desperately, Hakkai pushed through the crowd, forcing his way over to where he'd last seen the blond head. Before he knew what was happening, he'd landed flat on his back, winded, a warm, heavy body sprawled across his and cold mud squelching under him. He seized hold of the arms he found, hands brushing over standard military fatigues, determined to set the person aside so he could continue his search, but a tingling shiver down his spine stopped him cold. He knew this person. He was sure of it.

The arms jerked violently, trying to rip themselves free. "Let go of me!" a high, familiar voice demanded. Long braids whipped across his face as the woman surged to her feet, using her weight as leverage. His hold on her hands loosened for one crucial second as her identity and the significance of the scroll clutched in her hand hit home. The woman pulled free and stumbled backward, off balance.

For a brief, tense moment, they stared at each other, eyes wide, recognition etched deeply into both their faces, then Hakuryu kyuued an angry challenge and dove at the intruder's face, wings flashing. The moment broken, the figure turned and fled, braids flying, and Hakkai leapt to his feet to give chase, fatigue and weakness forgotten as he dodged obstacles, blood pounding in his veins.

He yelled "Stop!" but he doubted she could hear him, or that she would if she could. As they flew through the camp, ducking, dodging, leaping, Hakkai thought he caught sight of a burning tent in his peripheral vision, but his eyes were fixed firmly on his target, and he didn't deviate. He could sense her presence, almost predict her moves. She'd given up trying to blend in when it'd become obvious that her disguise was no longer helping, and her side detours, no doubt intended to throw him off, or at least break his rhythm, had decreased in length and frequency. She must be getting close, then. She'll have a dragon hidden just out of sight, and, once she reaches it, it'll be too late.

Drawing an extra burst of speed from his fast-dwindling reserves, Hakkai managed to close the distance so that he was only two steps behind her. Good, this was good. He'd definitely stop her now. A flicker of motion in the corner of his eye suddenly materialized as a vicious swipe of long, wickedly sharp claws. Ducking instinctively, Hakkai struck out, catching the interfering youkai solidly in the midriff as he tossed the assassin aside. What the hell were _they_ doing here? He could see several more of them ahead now, circling them.

Yaone had ground to a halt in front of him, her back stiff as she faced the youkai soldiers. "What are you doing here? Get out of my way." Her voice barely wavered. It sounded angry, impatient, and ... uncertain. She hadn't expected company. Somehow, that was comforting. Attacking in force wasn't really her style. Surprise attacks, stealth, and explosives were. Hakkai relaxed marginally, then pushed past two youkai so he was standing next to her in the circle.

"I'm afraid you took something that doesn't belong to you," he murmured, his voice soft and calm, ignoring their audience. "I'm going to have to ask you to return it." He held his hand out, willing her to meet his eyes, to acknowledge his existence and admit she'd lost this round.

But she stubbornly refused to look directly at him. "I'm here acting on direct orders from Lord Kougaiji himself," she announced, loudly and clearly, her eyes flicking toward him briefly, then back to the youkai blocking her path. "Let me pass. The mission was successful. Return to Houtou Castle at once. There's nothing left for you to do here."

"Oh, yeah?" one youkai leered, leaning unreasonably close to her, his nose very nearly touching hers. "Well, our orders come direct from Lady Gyokumen Koushu. Now why don't you just hand the scripture over, and we'll take care of the rest from here. Wouldn't want you to get _lost."_ The youkai's hand shot out, aiming, no doubt, to snatch the scroll out of her hands right then and there.

Hakkai took half a step forward, intending to intervene, but she'd already moved, sidestepping the startled soldier with ease. "How _dare_ you!" Her whole body was trembling as she summoned her spear, the rage rolling off her in waves. Apparently, this was something she'd prefer to handle alone.

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Hwan was panicking now, fiddling with the zoom functions on the cameras, but a sick dread was growing within her, and she knew, deep down she knew, that her gamble was just about to turn deadly. Without the fourth scripture and Lady Koushu's support, she was no match for Ni, the twisted bastard. Her heart pounding against her ribcage and her throat constricted, she scanned the room wildly, hoping to spot a loophole, anything that would buy her time.

Ah! Maybe she could use the scriptures. Shooting out of the lab chair, wheels squealing in protest as it drifted slowly away from her, she leapt for the storage cabinet.

"Time's up," a familiar voice announced. Her heart constricting painfully in her chest, she spun around to see a smug Ni and an irritated Koushu standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

"No! Wait! I ... " Why? Why was it so hard to get words past her throat. They all seemed to have collapsed there in a gooey mess, blocking off access to her lungs. Calm. Calm, dammit! It's not over yet. Tell her. Tell her about Ni's treachery. He can't be trusted.

"Why so pale, Hwan-chan? I would've thought you'd want to look your best for an official inspection." Damn that insufferable bastard and his condescending attitude.

Shoving her balled fists into her lab coat pockets with renewed resolve. "The cloning experiments—"

But Ni had already brushed past her and was smirking at the security monitors. "Oh-to! What's this, then, Hwan-chan?"

Hwan stuttered to a stop, hands clenching and unclenching reflexively in her pockets. What now? What the bloody hell now? He's just trying to throw her off balance. "The reports," she continued doggedly, refusing to look over at Ni, her eyes fixed on Koushu's cruel, elegant features as she glided past her. "Ni's been creating an army and he's—" Her head turned to follow Koushu's progress, willing her to listen.

The whisper of expensive robes along the tiles halted abruptly, two identical locks of hair thudding as they swung back to hit a pair of perfect breasts. "What. Have. You. DONE!?" Koushu whirled around, face contorted in rage. In two short strides, she'd seized hold of Hwan's neck in the iron grip of one hand and slammed her up against the supply cabinet. "Where is Rasetsunyo!?" she demanded, seething, her long, manicured nails drawing blood, sinking deep into unprotected flesh as her hand convulsed.

"I ... I," Hwan managed, barely able to breathe, her vision blurring as she tried desperately to twist away, to pry the deadly fingers loose. "It's okay. There's a tracking device," she wanted to say, but couldn't. Her body wasn't responding, her hands falling slack at her sides. She was only peripherally aware of the sharp pain in her throat and the gushing flow of liquid soaking through her coat and down her chest. It was almost as though it were all happening to someone else.

The vicious irony of the situation floated at the edges of her fading consciousness. She was going to die at the hands of the one she worshiped, the one she had striven to protect. Her last conscious thought was, "Ni, you bastard, you were supposed to go first."


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This particular chapter gave me loads of trouble, but I think I've ironed out the worst of the kinks in it.

* * *

Ni cocked his head to the side, amused, as Koushu shook the lifeless doll dangling limply in her iron grip. The vivid splashes of red against the starched white backdrop of the lab coat were entrancing, and the raw rage on Koushu's face was definitely a turn on. 

"I think it's broken," he commented idly, falling gracefully into the empty lab chair. Its wheels squeaked as it rolled backward.

Koushu dropped her prey and spun around to focus on him instead. Ni smirked. Beautiful. This was the sort of rush that made it worth getting out of bed.

"How could you not have _known!?"_ the seething youkai demanded, blood staining her hand and robe.

Ni shrugged, slouching in the chair, his knees parted suggestively. "How does anyone know anything?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, his eyes half-lidded. Philosophy tended to unnerve people or irritate them, and, really, either way it was rewarding. He rolled the chair casually to the side, smirking at her contorted features.

"I am _displeased,"_ Koushu declared, her voice dripping icy daggers as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him. Exquisite.

"Ohhhh, don't say that, M'lady." He took a long drag on his cigarette and scooped up the bunny sitting in his lap. "After all, we still have Kou-chan," he pointed out, exhaling and waving his hand casually toward the bank of monitors, "and he's _bound_ to know where his mommy went, isn't he?" He tipped Bunny-chan's head forward with his other hand so it nodded in agreement.

Koushu's stiff posture relaxed somewhat. "Yes," she agreed slowly, her eyes turning distant, "And the brat's still here, too, so it won't slow down the revival process." She paused, her lips quirking into a cruel smile. "I think I'm rather looking forward to punishing our errant Kou-chan, after all. Even if he doesn't tell us where his dear mother is, we can still have our fun, can't we? And then we can watch her break when she finds out what we've done to her precious son."

"Of course, M'lady," Ni answered solemnly. Reaching back into a filing cabinet behind him, he drew out a graying hand towel and launched his chair languidly toward Koushu.

Koushu looked down at the offering and then at her hands. Her smirk faded into an expression of disgust. "I'm going to freshen up," she announced, striding toward the door. Just as she passed through into the corridor, she spun around to face him, her eyes narrowed dangerously once again. "See that you don't lose any _more_ of them." Ni waved cheerfully back at her as the heavy metal lab door slid shut between them with a hiss.

Chair creaking as he slouched back in it, Ni watched a wispy column of smoke rise, then glanced down at the tangled heap of limbs. "Looks like it's just us now, Hwan-chan." He tilted his head consideringly, propping his chin on his hand. "I imagine you'll be rather boring, though." A wry smirk twitched at the corners of his mouth. "Too bad, so sad." Scooting his chair closer, he leaned down so he could ruffle her hair. "That's what happens when you forget your place in the world." It was a shame, really. She'd been entertaining while she'd lasted. Shrugging, he turned and propelled his chair back to his terminal, tossing his tie over his shoulder and reaching for his game controller.

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Nu bent over to check on Rin. She'd taken a blow to the head when the debris had started falling. He grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse, then carefully rolled her over to check for excessive bleeding. Concussion, he told himself. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't get trampled. Flagging down the first available soldier, he seized the man's collar, dragging him down so he could yell in his ear. Throwing in a couple of hand gestures just to be sure, Nu paused long enough to watch the soldier lift Rin and start dragging her toward the nearest tent. Then he moved on, crouching low as he made his way between piles of sandbags.

The sudden outbreak of mayhem had been an unwelcome addition to the endless parade of rain, but at least now he was wide awake, even if his stiff limbs were still responding sluggishly. On autopilot, he trotted up and down the line, checking on his own soldiers and bellowing orders to the confused waves of bodies darting back and forth.

When vise-like fingers seized his shoulder from behind, he swiveled around, rifle raised to use as a club, if necessary, but it was only Shin, stuttering and shuddering. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Nu shouted hoarsely, leaning in so Shin could hear him. "You're supposed to be on the western perimeter!"

"B-but we heard explosions, and—"

Nu grabbed Shin's shoulder with his free hand and shook it, hard. "I don't care _what_ you heard. Get back to your post, soldier! Make sure the others get back to their posts, too, dammit! I want you to get over there NOW, and I want you to stay PUT. Understand!?"

He could feel Shin's whole body stiffen. "Yes sir!" He waited another couple of seconds to be sure Shin had understood, then shoved him in the proper direction. The explosions were more than likely a ruse, and he had no intention of leaving one entire side of the camp unprotected.

Collaring the next soldier he ran into, he ordered the man to round up his squad and find Captain Tenjo. As he was turning back around, a body dropped from the tree overhead and landed on his back, long, wickedly sharp nails digging into his shoulders. Training kicked in, and he managed to tuck his body into a roll, landing an elbow to the gut before clubbing his assailant. "Incoming!" he roared, dashing forward to meet the line of feral eyes glaring back at him.

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At first, Hakkai had deferred to Yaone's prior claim, allowing her to deal with the growing youkai mob as she saw fit, but then they'd started to attack him, and he'd been forced to join in, his back pressed against hers as they beat off wave after wave of attackers. Hakuryu had kyuued uneasily in response and taken off, probably to get help.

He wasn't able to maintain a chi barrier large enough to cover both of them for more than a few seconds, and his chi blasts lacked their usual force and range, so it often came down to hand-to-hand combat, especially when some of the cleverer ones started dropping out of the trees overhead. He knew that a war of attrition would put him at a distinct disadvantage, but his options were limited and this was not a fight he could afford to lose.

Yaone's sharp reflexes allowed her to deflect blows easily, and her agility meant that she could outmaneuver most opponents long enough to get in a clean, precise hit. Being able to sense his ally's movements without having to watch her helped him stay focused, and he found, as he let his body's instincts take over, that he really did trust her.

Eventually, he returned once again to his default position and realized that, this time, there were no opponents within sight. Too tired to pursue those who had undoubtedly fled, Hakkai sank into a sitting position, his back pressed against a tree and his knees drawn up as he tried to catch his breath. Yaone slid down next to him, her chest heaving and her shoulder pressed against his.

It was amazingly comfortable, really, even with the knob in the tree digging into his spine and the stinging of his left leg, a reminder that he'd jumped too late to avoid the long, painful scratch. Glancing over at his companion, he noticed that Yaone's right arm was bleeding. Sighing, he dragged out his handkerchief and reached for the wounded arm. Yaone flinched, but didn't attempt to stop him. Her eyes fixed on his, intense and measuring.

After a moment, his eyes fell to focus on wrapping the cloth. "The explosions were yours?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

"Yes, a diversion." Her voice was soft.

"And Sanzo," he asked, hands fumbling slightly, "he's going to be okay?"

Yaone snorted softly beside him. "Yes. ... More or less."

Hakkai looked up when he was done. Her eyes were focused on the tree across from them. His hand reached out to hold hers, and she let him, her eyes dropping to stare at their entwined fingers. After a short silence, Hakkai leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. "... It's Dr. Ni, isn't it?" Her fingers tightened convulsively around his. "He's the reason you didn't hold back this time, why you're so determined," Hakkai continued, squeezing her hand in return, a strong, steady presence. He needed her to trust him.

"H-how did you—?" Yaone started, scrambling to her knees and leaning over to place her free hand on his shoulder. He tensed, sensing how close she was, hyperaware of every point of contact, her warm forehead very nearly touching his.

Drawing a deep breath, Hakkai clung desperately to his focus. "It seems," he murmured, "you have an evil twin." His eyes flashed as they flew open to meet and hold hers. She stared back at him, her face flushing as understanding, then anger kindled in her eyes.

He nodded back at her. "Why don't you start at the beginning?" he asked gravely, reaching out slowly and gently to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face. Yaone's head dipped forward briefly, her hand squeezing his, hope and relief flickering across her features as her eyes lifted once again to meet his.

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"Nnn," Gojyo mumbled incoherently, his head throbbing. Damn, how much had he drunk, anyway?! An annoying voice in the background kept shouting. He really wished it would shut the hell up, 'cause it was making things worse. "Shut UP, dammit!" he groaned, rolling onto his side, away from the aggravation. Unfortunately, all this got him was a face full of cold-ass slimy mud. "Ugh!"

Shoving himself up into a sitting position with one hand, he clutched his exploding head with the other. "Shit!" The whole damn world was spinning now, and Gojyo wanted the hell off this demented merry-go-round, or at least a chance to puke his guts up in peace. What the hell? He never had hangovers this bad. Well, except maybe that once, but trying to drink Hakkai under the table had been even less successful than his attempts at beating the man at cards. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!"

"Gojyo!" an unreasonably loud voice shouted, right in his ear, too, dammit! "Sanzo won't get up!" Now the stupid monkey was shaking him, and he was sure his watering eyes were gonna fall right out. "Make him get up, Gojyo! He's not moving!!"

Gojyo winced and reminded himself that he'd regret it later if he killed the chimp. Really. He would. He just couldn't, for the life of him, think of even one reason why. Reaching out to grab a handful of the idiot's spiky hair, he dragged Goku's face closer and whispered heavily, "Shut. The hell. Up."

He hadn't really held out much hope that the brat would actually listen, but he certainly hadn't expected the look of near-panic on the chimp's face. "Ohhhhh, don't do that," he groaned, letting go of the hair to clutch his forehead again. "Come on, man. He's just drunk. Let 'im sleep it off. He'll be fine," he wheedled, sure the monkey was overreacting, probably hungry or something. Gojyo tried to lie back down at that point, on his back this time, but the brat seemed to have other plans.

"No he's not!" Goku hissed, jostling Gojyo's shoulder determinedly. "He won't move, I tell ya! Get yer lazy perverted hide over here an' help me _fix_ him!"

Struggling to his hands and knees, Gojyo thought very hard about "fixing" the monkey. For good. The very idea of the monkey procreating made his stomach clench. Damn, what a scary thought. As his eyes slowly focused and adjusted to the dimness, he stiffened. Prone bodies were scattered all around them, like puppets whose strings had been cut mid-performance. What the hell?

"Come _on!"_ Goku tugged impatiently on a fistful of hair. Oh, the chimp was gonna _die_ if he managed to pull any out! And why the hell was Hakuryu giving him the evil eye from monkey boy's shoulder? Great, now even the overgrown rat hated him.

"Just _gimme_ a minute, will ya!?" Fighting another wave of nausea, Gojyo sat back on his heels and clutched his head. Wait a minute. He really _hadn't_ drunk that much. After all, snogging sort of interfered with drinking, not that he minded. ... Oh, yeah. The explosions. Had he gotten caught up in one somehow!? Patting himself down cautiously, he was unable to discover any new injuries. Huh. Weird. But good. Definitely good.

Giving up on understanding for now, he stumbled to his feet, leaned heavily on the monkey's unoccupied shoulder, and allowed Goku to lead him the few feet over to where Sanzo was lying flat on his back, separate from the other bodies. Collapsing heavily onto his knees, he lurched forward to press his ear against Sanzo's chest. He'd never forgive the bastard if he'd gone and died on him now. After a couple of dizzy, disoriented seconds, Gojyo realized that the chest under him was rising and falling steadily. His body relaxed, the tension evaporating as he slid clumsily onto his side and slung a companionable arm across Sanzo's chest. Mmmm. Nice.

"Oi, Goku," Gojyo mumbled, snuggling closer to Sanzo and nuzzling his ear. "Grab us a blanket, wouldja?"

Goku kicked him. Hard. "What the hell are ya _doin',_ ya filthy water sprite!?"

Gojyo glared, clutching his throbbing side and rolling over to stare up at large, round, indignant eyes. The monkey wanted a fight? Fine. Bring it on! Standing up might not be an option, but he could sure as hell drag the chimp down to his level.

The ensuing tussle woke Blondie up, of course, and he was NOT AMUSED. "Die! Just die!" were, in fact, his first words, as he proceeded to thump them soundly with his fan. Gojyo thought this was a bit unfair, really, 'cause they were boyfriends and all now, and, besides, the chimp'd started it, but he just rolled out of range and groaned. Explaining seemed like an awful lot of work just now, and he was pretty sure Baldie wasn't in the mood for it, anyway.

Hakuryu, the clever rat, had taken shelter on a handy tree branch and was perched there now, white tail swishing impatiently. Goku, of course, was overjoyed that the Holy Terror was up and about again. The little rascal was practically hopping up and down, trying to dance close enough to snag a hug without getting beaned. Gojyo snorted. So, the brat figured _he_ was the only one allowed to touch Sanzo? Bullshit. Gojyo staggered to his feet and lurched over to claim the first hug. No way was Shrimpy gonna beat him to it.

Gojyo had managed to tackle the chimp and get one arm around Sanzo before Goku retaliated, toppling Gojyo, and, in the process, Sanzo, which meant, of course, that they were dodging bullets very shortly afterward. "Oi! Oi! Watch out for the bystanders, man! Take it easy!" Gojyo called as he tripped over yet another tangle of limbs. The adrenaline rush had certainly woken him up.

Sanzo froze, pistol aimed skyward, and spun slowly in place, finally taking in their surroundings. "What the hell happened here!?"

Goku peeked out from behind one of the larger piles of camouflage. "I thought you were in trouble, so I came lookin' for ya, and then ya wouldn't move! I thought you'd died, but Gojyo said you were drunk, and then he started climbin' all over ya!" The monkey glared over at him accusingly. Gojyo flipped Goku the bird, then ducked, just in case.

Sanzo's free hand was massaging his temple. "Not that! Why the hell are we—" Hand frozen in place, his face turned white as a sheet. "FUCK! Dammit, I _knew_ that smell was familiar!!"

"Wait, what—ohhhhhhh," Gojyo breathed, understanding dawning at last. "She fucking drugged us! Again! Shit!!" He clutched his aching head. "Where's Hakkai, man!? I am so gonna give him a piece of my mind. His chick's out of control! That's fighting dirty, that's what that is. And now I have the headache from hell, too." Gojyo groaned and dragged twitching fingers through clumped strands of dripping wet hair. "She must've spiked that damn gas of hers with something extra strong this time."

Sanzo was ignoring him, hands flying as they started patting down his pockets, then his shoulders, then digging frantically _in_ his pockets, chucking the contents on the ground haphazardly. Oh. ... Shit. Gojyo froze, a sick sense of realization sinking into the pit of his stomach. She wouldn't ... would she? She might. Suddenly, he felt like his stomach was crawling with millipedes.

Without warning, the frantic searching stopped and Sanzo's body became unnaturally still, his eyes shielded by the bedraggled fringe of muddy blond hair. "... How long have I been out?" he asked, his voice frighteningly calm, even, and steady.

"Uhhh, I dunno. A long time," the chimp answered, subdued, his head hanging. "An hour, maybe?" Gojyo's breath stuck in his throat, and he felt even sicker. If he hadn't talked Sanzo into having a drink, maybe ...

"She'll be long gone, then." Sanzo's voice was heavy, gravelly, resigned. He lifted piercing violet eyes and leveled them straight at Gojyo, who felt colder than he ever had before. "Where's Hakkai?"

While Gojyo was desperately trying to unstick his tongue enough to admit that he had no fucking idea where Hakkai was now, Hakuryu fluttered down off the tree branch and perched on his shoulder, snagging a mouthful of hair and tugging on it. He barely registered it, helplessly lost in the depths of sharp, vivid eyes.

"I ... believe we have something of yours, Sanzo-san," an exhausted Hakkai announced, appearing just behind the priest's left shoulder. Gojyo started, taking an involuntary step backward. Sanzo whirled in place, wobbling for the briefest of seconds as the mud slid treacherously under him, and aimed his pistol unerringly at the center of Yaone's forehead. She smiled weakly back at him, but otherwise seemed unperturbed. Hakkai was leaning heavily on her, one arm slung around her shoulders, but his eyes were calm and serious. Gojyo noticed the slim hand wrapped around Hakkai's waist moments before he registered the scroll held out, palm up, in her free hand.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

A curl of wood flaked away and fell past his ear. Gojyo rolled his head gently to the side to consider the effect. The curvature wasn't quite right, but it was passable, which was more than he could say for the impromptu bed he'd made out of a row of metal folding chairs. Shifting uncomfortably, he tried to redistribute the locations of the hard angles digging into his spine. The murmur of intense voices rose and fell in the background. With a sigh, Gojyo raised the sharp edge of his hunting knife and carved out another crooked curve. It was still uneven, but it wasn't as bad as the first 'G' had been.

"Yes, but how many scriptures did you _see?"_ Sanzo's voice was low, impatient.

"Only three," Yaone admitted, her voice subdued.

"Was the Seiten sutra among them?" Gojyo paused, knife poised, at the coil of tension in Sanzo's voice.

"... Yes. We used it to free Lady Rasetsunyo." He could hear the rustle of ingredients being added to the concoction bubbling on the stove top.

In the long silence that followed, Gojyo managed to carve out another 'S.' Goku's head leaned over the edge of the table and blinked down at him curiously. "Whatcha doin'?"

Grinning up at the wide, brown eyes, Gojyo smirked and blew a puff of smoke in the monkey's face. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Goku scowled down at him, then rolled over on the tabletop, where he'd taken up residence. "Sanzoooo, Gojyo's doin' somethin' perverted again!"

Gojyo shrugged and glanced over at Sanzo hopefully. He was rewarded with a brief, suspicious scowl and the slight balling of one fist. Gojyo waved cheerfully, a lone hand appearing over the edge of the table. Well, that was something, at least. Anything was better than the cold, swirling, destructive calm from before.

"In any case, our first concern has to be eliminating the clones," Hakkai's patient, reasonable voice cut in, reclaiming Sanzo's attention. Gojyo sighed and resumed work on his masterpiece. It was good to finally be getting inside information relevant to their mission. He knew that. But he was restless, dammit! All this endless talking was driving him crazy. Ideally, he'd like some alone time with his blond bombshell, but, failing that, he'd like to at least crack a few skulls.

"Yes, the clones are an affront to Lord Kougaiji, and it is my responsibility to see that they're eliminated," Yaone added, the intensity in her voice rising. "If we hadn't let our guard down enough to get captured, this never would have happened." Man, why didn't people ever blame the real bastards, the ones who were actually orchestrating shit? Gojyo brushed a few stray hairs out of his face and stretched out his aching arm.

"Tell me more about this Ni," Sanzo pressed, his focus unshakable. "He's responsible for the clones, right?" Yaone's head dipped briefly before complying, her voice a low, focused murmur that Gojyo mostly tuned out. His head was still fuzzy and muddled, making it hard to concentrate. Sanzo and Hakkai were probably taking copious notes, anyway. He turned back to his carving.

It'd been a relief to hear that Jien was alive and well (and apparently babysitting Kougaiji's mum, of all things), but Gojyo hadn't really been all that worried about him. His brother was a tough cookie and could look after himself. Fidgeting again on his unstable platform, Gojyo turned on his side and added the final, finishing touch. It struck him as a bit unfair that so many curves were involved, 'cause they were hard to get right, but he figured his priest was worth it, really, and it fit somehow 'cause nothing was ever easy for either of them.

Gojyo sighed heavily and rearranged his long limbs so he was actually sitting in one of the chairs—well, slumped in one of them, really—his head resting on crossed arms. "How's that headache potion coming along there, Yaone?" Che, he sounded like a whiny brat. But his head hurt, dammit. Of course, Gojyo was pretty sure Sanzo's did too, but he'd never admit to it, the stubborn bastard.

"It should have cooled off enough by now—" Yaone started, but curt voices approaching from outside the tent cut her off. Ignoring everything but the promise of relief, Gojyo shuffled single-mindedly toward the counter.

"I've done two full perimeter checks, sir. It doesn't look like any of them managed to get through the western defenses, but I'm having teams of three go through the camp with a fine-tooth comb just to be sure."

"I see. What about the soldiers found sleeping on duty?"

Sanzo scowled and crossed his arms, glaring pointedly at Yaone. Meh, whatever. Blondie'd gotten his sutra back. No harm, no foul, right? ... Well, except for the killer headache, but she'd promised to help with that, so it was all good. Probably.

"We're still investigating that, sir. How're we doing on supplies?"

Goku perked up at that and clambered off his table; the bottomless pit was probably hoping to score a few of the cookies still lying out on the counter.

"Well, the kerosene fire ravaged them pretty thoroughly, but we did manage to put it out before it reached the dynamite." Yaone winced, her head drooping. Che. She should've been more careful with her toys if she didn't want people to get hurt.

"That's a relief," Nu muttered over his shoulder as he stepped into the light. His head and right arm were heavily bandaged, and he was walking with a bit of a limp, but his eyes were clear and sharp when his head swung back around. The shock on his face quickly morphed into wry irritation. "Don't you guys ever stop eating? This isn't a diner, you know."

"Hai, hai," Gojyo muttered, dishing himself a ladleful of slop that looked more like soggy oatmeal than anything. He stared at it doubtfully, then glanced back up at Nu. "You don't look so good, man. You gonna be okay?"

Nu shrugged, a small smile sliding into place. Tenjo stepped around his junior officer and surveyed the situation in the mess tent. His rifle rose sharply when he caught sight of Yaone. Gojyo frowned, and Hakuryu's beady red eyes flashed as the dragon landed, wings fully extended, on the end of the rifle and stared accusingly up at the military captain.

"Ah, Captain Tenjo, please allow me to introduce Yaone-san. The _real_ Yaone-san." Hakkai's smile was apologetic, but his eyes were deadly serious.

A bemused-looking Tenjo lowered his rifle, his eyebrows rising as the indignant white dragon flapped over to perch on Hakkai's shoulder again. "The, uh, _real_ Yaone is a youkai?" he asked, his eyes lingering on pointed ears.

"Yup," Gojyo replied cheerfully, squinting at the ladle distrustfully before licking the edge of it. The taste wasn't too awful, so, with a shrug, he tipped his head back and swallowed the entire serving. His eyes slid over to catch Sanzo staring at him. Grinning, he scooped up another ladleful and dangled it in front of the now-scowling priest. "Bottoms up!" he singsonged.

"So, what's she doing here, then?" Tenjo asked pointedly, ignoring Sanzo's irritated grab for the ladle handle and Gojyo's feral grin as he danced out of range.

Yaone's eyes lifted from the concoction bubbling on the stove. "I came to steal the Maten sutra," she answered simply.

Tenjo still looked confused, as well he might. "But we don't have—"

"She means Sanzo's holy scripture," Hakkai chimed in helpfully, handing Yaone another dried sprig. Nu had gone over to sit next to the monkey, who was perched once again on the tabletop. They were munching cookies companionably and taking turns feeding a purring Hakuryu.

Sanzo, the rat bastard, had finally seized control of the ladle and was downing its contents as quickly as possible, head thrown back and Adam's apple bobbing. Well, it could be worse, really. Leaning in, Gojyo whispered, "Indirect kiss," then smirked when Sanzo nearly choked, his eyes wide and flashing daggers.

"This isn't some damn holy war or something, is it?" Tenjo asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"Well, sort of," Gojyo answered distractedly as he dodged behind the counter, "we are on a mission from the gods."

Nu snorted and spewed cookie crumbs. "You have _got_ to be shitting me," he gasped, when he could catch his breath. _"You_ guys? Must be some seriously deranged gods you've got there."

Sanzo was eyeing Gojyo's strategic retreat behind Hakkai as if he were trying to decide what constituted acceptable collateral damage. Yaone switched off the gas on the stove and set the mixture aside.

Goku was under the table now, frowning in concentration as he stared upward. "What kinda math _is_ this, ya demented kappa? 'SG plus GS equals 69'!? ... Is that some kinda code?" The look Sanzo shot him made it perfectly clear that the 'code' was not hard to decipher.

"It's grown-up math!" Gojyo called over his shoulder as he lifted a sauce pan to protect his face. Of course, it'd probably be more effective if he weren't peeking around the edge to gauge Sanzo's reaction.

Hakkai stood up and slung an arm around Sanzo's shoulders. Traitor! "Feel free to aim low, Sanzo-san." Oh shit! Gojyo's eyes bugged out, and he quickly moved the frying pan to protect more important bits.

"Sir!" a breathless soldier shouted as he dashed into the mess tent. "Sir, the village is under attack! Lieutenant Li urgently requests assistance ASAP."

"Right! A lady in distress! That's my cue! See ya!" Gojyo shouted, dragging the soldier out behind him. He had a feeling he'd overdone things a bit back there. Sanzo was pretty edgy right now, and probably wanted to be left alone for awhile. Gojyo could handle that. And, in the meantime, he'd be able to work off some of his own frustration, assuming the attackers were good enough that he'd get a decent workout.

Goku caught up with him as he was passing the camp's perimeter guards. When Gojyo glanced down at him, the monkey grinned back. "I'm comin' too! We can't let Hakkai get all the action!"

Gojyo reached over to ruffle Goku's hair before letting go of the stumbling soldier and putting on an extra burst of speed. "Only if you can keep up, squirt." He could smell blood now, and he didn't need help finding that.

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A/N: The filter for this site wouldn't let me use an actual equals sign. Gomen. The math is funnier when it's formatted properly. 


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's followed _A Force to Be Reckoned With_ this far! I'm sorry the wait for this chapter was so long. Life has been a bit crazy lately.

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Sanzo stared down at the frying pan lying at his feet, the ladle still clutched in his dangling hand. What the _hell_ was he doing? This was insane. How the hell did Gojyo always manage to slip under his guard? With a shiver of pure frustration, he dropped the ladle and massaged his aching temple. His headache was getting worse, not better. That damned quack of an apothecary better not have poisoned him again.

Tenjo was scowling but seemed otherwise unfazed by Gojyo's antics. "Nu, inform the perimeter guard to be prepared for another attack. I want them on full alert."

"Understood, sir." Nu nodded sharply and scrambled off the table. As he reached the tent's flaps, Tenjo stopped him with a hand to his arm.

"I'll coordinate Li's backup. Report back to me at the medical tent when you're through." When Nu nodded again, Tenjo released him and turned back to face Yaone. "You," he barked, pointing right at her, "stay put. Understand? You set one foot outside this tent, and you'll be shot on sight." With that, he ducked through the tent's flaps and was gone.

"Well, that was friendly," Hakkai murmured. Privately, Sanzo thought it was a perfectly reasonable security precaution. He certainly had no reason to trust her.

Hakkai seemed to trust her, though. Sanzo watched her offer him some of her second concoction and fuss over him as he settled himself on one of the tabletops. They looked so relaxed together that Sanzo felt a curl of jealousy. He was attracted to the damn cockroach, that much was clear, but he always felt off-balance around him. He hated feeling out of his depth, and this whole thing with Gojyo, whatever it was, was like wading through quicksand.

"Sanzo?" Goku peered up at him, head tilted to the side and wide brown eyes piercing in their intensity. Stiffening, Sanzo realized that he'd lost track of his surroundings. He hadn't even noticed the monkey leaving his perch, and now the brat was staring up at him with this really unnerving look in his eyes, as if Goku could read his mind. Sanzo's arms crossed unconsciously.

A slow grin spread across the monkey's face. "Don't worry, Sanzo! I'll keep an eye on 'im for ya!" The monkey made a ridiculous victory sign with one hand, then dashed out of the tent before Sanzo could process what had just happened, much less react to it.

"Are you all right?" Yaone asked, placing a light hand on his arm. Why the hell did people think he wasn't all right? He was fine, dammit! And he certainly wasn't worried about the damned cockroach. An involuntary shiver coursed through him as traces of his nightmare resurfaced.

Irritated, he shook off the apothecary's hand. The kappa was more than capable of looking out for himself. Right now, Sanzo had more important things to take care of, like dragging every last useful bit of information out of Kougaiji's minion. They were on a mission, after all, even if no one else was inclined to remember it.

Scowling at the unperturbed woman standing next to him, Sanzo growled, "I'm fine. Now tell me more about the surveillance system. How is it you always seem to know where we are?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

"Stop fidgeting," Kougaiji hissed, dragging Lirin's wayward hands away from her ears. He'd already broken two nails on these damn cuffs. How Yaone managed to accomplish anything with these bent pieces of metal was beyond him. He knew what they were. He'd seen them often enough. But he was damned if he could figure out how the hell they worked.

Ten sweaty, irritating minutes later, Kougaiji collapsed against the back of the couch, shoulders tense and lock picks digging into the palm of his clenched hand. Dammit! This was getting him nowhere. Sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose, he watched Lirin slide off the couch with a sulky thump and sprawl on the floor next to it. "Oniiii-chan, Yaone's late, isn't she?"

Kougaiji leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. It'd been a while since she'd been fed, and she chafed at the prolonged confinement even more than he did. Slipping the lock picks into a handy pocket, he reached out to ruffle his sister's hair. "I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Lirin made a face and blew hair off her forehead. Twisting slightly, so she was facing the door, she rested her head against his knee and fiddled with a loose thread on her frayed trouser leg. "Do you think your mom will like me, Onii-chan?"

Kougaiji smiled crookedly down at her bent head. He was still getting used to the idea that his mother was no longer being held hostage.

"Do you think she'll make us food with her own hands?" Lirin continued, mumbling into her bent knee. "I'd help. I think—"

The controlled hiss of the door opening derailed that thought and caused a suddenly animated Lirin to spring her feet. She was already halfway to the door by the time twin horns became visible, causing her to skid to a halt. Oh shit. Kougaiji darted forward, eyes fixed on a frozen Lirin as Lady Koushu advanced into the room, lines of displeasure etched deeply into her features. Smirking guards flanked her on either side.

Slinging a reassuring arm around his sister's trembling shoulders, he tried desperately to formulate a plan. Was Koushu working with Hwan now? Involuntarily, his eyes fell, fixing on the rigged handcuffs. Was his failure going to cost Lirin her life? Dammit, they could have been rid of the blasted things ages ago if only he hadn't been afraid of setting them off! A shiver of self-loathing and frustration caused his eyes to narrow. He was sick of being the damn pawn in other people's power plays.

The corners of Koushu's mouth turned up in a cruel imitation of a smile. "Did you miss me, darling?" she asked, reaching out to stroke one long fingernail down the side of her daughter's face. Lirin pressed back against Kougaiji, her eyes huge as she stared up at the looming figure of her mother.

"Leave her alone," Kougaiji growled, clutching at his sister protectively.

"My, my. Not only a mother fetish but a sister fetish as well?" Her cruel smile morphed into a sneer. "Well, I suppose it's only natural for the son of _that woman."_

Kougaiji bristled, furious, his claws extending automatically as they lashed out. Koushu dodged easily, her smile broadening. "Oh, please. You're much too weak for that. You can _have_ Lirin, though, if you tell me where _Rasetsunyo_ is." Fury and disgust flashed briefly in her hard, cold eyes.

Kougaiji froze, forcing himself to ignore the bait and focus on what she'd said. The jeering guards were snickering, but Kougaiji's head was ringing. She isn't working with Hwan. She doesn't know about the handcuffs. The deal's off. We have to go. The confused tangle of thoughts tumbled forward in a heap as he tucked Lirin under his arm and darted toward the door. The angry shouts and ripples of cold laughter sounded as if they were coming from a long way off, distorted somehow, as he broke through the ranks of guards, tossing them aside like twigs. He had to get to the long-distance dragons. He had to find Yaone.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

Sanzo was forced to admit that his attention was beginning to wander. Shaking his head no longer dispelled the unbidden images of Gojyo that insisted on elbowing their way to the surface. This was all the damn kappa's fault. Why the hell wasn't he back yet? Rubbing his eyes irritably, Sanzo realized that he had no idea what Yaone was talking about anymore. Fuck! Shoving his chair back, he stood abruptly and stalked over to the coffee pot. Yaone stopped talking, but he could feel her eyes tracking his movements.

He just needed some damn coffee. That was all. Glaring accusingly at the empty coffee pot, he thumped the pot down on the counter and tossed back the half-filled mug he'd managed to pour. His face contorted, twitching in disgust. He managed to swallow, but it was a near thing. Right. That was it! He was going for a walk and damn the consequences. He needed to clear his head before he lost it completely. If Hakkai wanted to trust the blasted apothecary and her restorative potion, that was his own damn lookout.

"I'll be right back," he growled as he stalked stiffly out of the tent, arms crossed and muddy robes dragging against his damp jeans. The sooner they got out of this vile cesspool, the better.

The brisk, damp air calmed him as he moved forward, striding briskly past scattered clusters of tents. The dim, uniform lighting was soothing after the harsh shadows inside the tent. Muted conversations and the sounds of people moving about provided a convenient distraction, something safe for his mind to focus on. Of course, that thought immediately sparked the appearance of yet another treacherous image of Gojyo, this time leaning up against a wall, his bangs crumpled and chest bandaged.

Sanzo kicked at a discarded pack, scowling. Why the hell was Gojyo taking so long? Snorting, he skirted the tattered remains of a charred tent, barely visible through the fog. The kappa'd probably run into the village brats and stayed for breakfast or something. Right on cue, Sanzo's stomach rumbled. Fine, if Gojyo was going to eat without him, he could just return the favor. Turning around abruptly, Sanzo headed back toward the tent. It was about time Hakkai got up anyway, or headed back to his own damn tent. Sleeping on a table was hardly going to do anyone any good.

The abrupt change in the world's orientation forced Sanzo to reevaluate his priorities. Sharp claws dug into his arms, pinning him face-down and spread-eagled in the cold, slimy muck. Shit! Shit, shit, shit! The fog. The damn fog! Turning his head to the side, he wheezed, drawing in shallow, shaky breaths as he struggled to yank his arms free. This was all the damn kappa's fault. He was sure of it.

Luminous, glassy eyes leaned closer and sharp fangs clacked, inches away from his hair. Gasping, Sanzo realized that he could feel another curved claw scraping across his shoulders. Panic and anger coursed through him. No fucking way! Not twice in one damned day! "Don't _touch_ me!" he roared, channeling all his strength into his arms, jerking them in and shoving himself up on his hands.

Thrown off-balance by the unexpected movement, the spider rocked backward, legs flailing as it hissed angrily. In those crucial seconds, Sanzo's body reacted on autopilot, leaping to his feet and dragging his pistol out of his pocket. Before he could fire, though, the spider had deflected his arm with one long, segmented leg. It leaned forward again, one wicked claw caught on the hand holding the pistol as it forced him to bend backward. A forest of armored legs clacked remorselessly as they closed in, closing off his options.

Not good. Scowling fiercely, Sanzo forced himself to drop back into the muck and roll away. Sharp hissing was followed by a swift lowering of the spider's body as it attempted to physically pin him in place beneath it. Shoving himself forward through the sludge, he managed to grab hold of a leg and swing himself up onto the bastard's back. A violent shiver tore its way up and down the spider's body, causing him to seize the first available handhold as the spider tipped up onto its back legs and shook itself violently. The narrow stem connecting the front and back sections of the spider was easy enough to grab, but the flailing legs kept jostling him, and he could feel his grip slipping. From this position, the eyes were out of reach. When the spider crouched again, legs bent, and launched itself into the air, Sanzo's arm felt like it was being jerked out of its socket. In a desperate bid to distract the spider and force it to land, he fired point-blank at the spider's head. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the armored shell signaled the futility of that maneuver.

The shots had attracted attention, though, judging from the sounds of the soldiers shouting below them as the spider raced along the underside of a tree limb. Stomach lurching and roiling, Sanzo had time to regret the cup of coffee as the spider sped up, leaping from tree to tree. Branches swatted at him and his legs dangled, making accuracy very nearly impossible, but he was damned if he was letting the thieving bastard get away. He was forced to switch hands when a long branch caught him sharply in the stomach, nearly causing him to lose his grip. Sharps claws found leverage and managed to dig into his arm, shoving at it and tearing long furrows in his skin. Grimly, Sanzo hung on and managed to brace himself against a protruding branch long enough to fire off three more shots. They all connected with the spider's straining abdomen.

He could feel the spider's body recoil with each shot and felt a vindictive stab of satisfaction when the spider started sliding downward. Before he could feel too smug, though, he felt a long, segmented leg wrap around him, pinning him against a hard exoskeleton. The sound of furious hissing next to his ear alerted him to the fact that he was dangerously close to twitching fangs. A wild, confused tussle ensued as they plummeted to the ground. The distinctive crunch of a collapsing tent engendered a vague feeling of relief as he rolled away across the rough canvas and fired another shot at the exposed abdomen. The spider shuddered, legs twitching, and began to rise. Sanzo backed away, cursing. He was out of bullets.

Fumbling to reload, he heard the loud crack of gunfire as a hail of bullets connected with the looming monstrosity. It landed heavily on top of him. Guh! Stupid bastards. Who the hell asked them to intervene?

And where was the damned cockroach? The bastard had better not snuff it before he had a chance to tell him off. As Sanzo shoved his way out from under the oozing, lifeless carcass, he could hear more shots being fired and the confused babble of voices shouting and screaming. What the hell!?

The patchy fog gave the whole scene an eerie, surreal edge, blurring outlines and making it difficult to judge distances, but the loudest screams seemed to be coming from the heaving mass of tangled net off to the left. Scowling, Sanzo finished reloading, using the dead spider's carcass as cover, and cast about for any sign of his opponents. Soldiers were rushing to and fro, ducking for cover and firing at anything that moved. A few of the more adventurous seemed to be trying to free their comrades from the confines of the heavy spider webs that were now falling like rain, pinning soldiers in place wherever they congregated. What a disaster. He couldn't even see any spiders in the mayhem. No doubt they were up in the trees, where the fog was thickest.

Catching sight of a group of fleeing soldiers, his eyes rose to track the movement of the falling net. Following the net's trajectory back to its probable source, he fired off a few shots. He thought he caught a blur of movement through the haze and fired again. When that failed to garner a response, he scowled. This was hopeless. How could he fight an enemy he couldn't see? Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh my god, we're gonna die! This is hell! It's _hell,_ I tell you!" The high, strung-out voice was cut off by a sharp slap.

"Focus, dammit! Where's your rifle, soldier!?" That sounded like Nu.

"There's no way out! We can't get out! The wall! They're waiting at the walls! Oh my God they got Rei, sir! They got him! Skewered him right through the middle! You've gotta—" The man sounded completely unhinged, his breath coming in uneven gasps.

"What wall!? The village walls?" Sanzo could see Nu gripping the soldier by the shoulders, virtually holding him upright. Wait. Gojyo was in the village. Sanzo's brow furrowed, his hand twitching convulsively.

"N-no, the nets. They've strung _nets_ between the trees. Don't you get it!? There's _no way out!_ We're completely surrounded and we're gonna _die!"_

Sanzo didn't really have time to process that statement because the carcass he was using for cover was ripped away from him, leaving him exposed, and, suddenly, encircled by a forest of hissing, clacking blackness dotted with luminous rows of opalescent eyes.

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Goku's ears twitched. "Sanzo's in trouble!" he shouted, snagging the back of the perverted kappa's collar.

"I _know,_ dammit!" Gojyo growled, fending off a vicious swipe with the pole of his shakujou. Then his eyes went wide and he frowned, failing to follow through and slash at the exposed black abdomen.

Goku felt his own brow furrow as he thrust upward, skewering the spider before it could sink its fangs into the frozen kappa's shoulder. Gojyo _knew,_ did he? "Watch what you're doing, ya demented kappa!"

"I know, brat!" Gojyo's eyes had refocused, but his face was still a bit pale. "Watch your own damn back!" The wicked, curved blade sailed over Goku's shoulder with a whoosh, and he heard the sharp crunch of contact before a pile of segmented legs fell heavily next to him. "Let's hurry up and finish these damn bastards off already!"

Goku felt his face twist into a feral grin. "Don't hold me back! I'm still ahead by two." He wasn't sure he understood, exactly, but something about Gojyo had changed, and he thought maybe Sanzo had too. The kappa's one-fingered salute hadn't, though.

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Hakkai's struggle to cling to the tattered shreds of sleep was foiled by the persistent rough, wet sandpaper flicking against his chin. Eyes fluttering open, he groggily registered Hakuryu's intense red eyes glowing down at him from the dragon's perch on his chest. Absentmindedly, he reached up to stroke the dragon's neck, and Hakuryu nuzzled his chin impatiently.

Consciousness slowly returning, he rolled his head to the side and stared in mild shock at the tense, muscled back that was hovering within easy reach. It tapered down to a slim waist that flared out to form gently rounded hips. Oh! He could feel his face flushing. Familiar dark hair fell in gentle fountains, framing the exposed back. Uhhh. Hakkai tried desperately to stop staring, to unstick his tongue long enough to let Yaone know he was awake, but his body refused to respond.

The sound of rapid gunfire outside the tent broke the spell. Shoving himself upright, he grabbed Yaone's arm. "What's going on? Where's Sanzo?"

Yaone spun around to face him, her brow furrowed. "I don't know. He left a few minutes ago and said he'd be right back, but—"

"Let's go." Hakkai slid off the end of the table and strode forward, Hakuryu hovering at his shoulder, but he paused at the tent flaps, confused. Yaone hadn't followed him. Turning to frown over his shoulder, he asked, "Aren't you coming?" Yaone was still standing where he'd left her, her arms crossed uncomfortably.

She avoided meeting his eyes. "I ... I'm not supposed to ..." He could feel conflicted concern showing through on his face. He knew he was slipping, but he couldn't seem to help it. Her hands tightened briefly on her arms, then she dropped them. "Yes. Yes, I'm coming," she said in a rush, her eyes lifting to meet his. Her face shone with resolution as she moved to join him, and, as they passed through the tent flaps, their hands brushed.

The warm flush he'd felt when Yaone had joined him evaporated as his eyes adjusted to the shifting fog that prevailed outside the warm cocoon of the tent. The camp had erupted into chaos while he'd slept.

Spotting a large, dark writhing mass in the fog, he took off running toward it. Soldiers were darting to and fro. It was hard to hear anything over the shouts. A sudden hand appeared on his shoulder. His mind registered Yaone's presence and allowed himself to be dragged backward. A feeling of horrified fascination settled over him as he watched a large, grayish-white net drop directly in front of him and pin a group of running soldiers in place.

The hand on his shoulder released him, and Hakkai bent forward immediately to free the trapped soldiers. The strands of the net clung to his fingers and burned. A frowning Yaone bent next to him and pulled his hands free. A panicked soldier was struggling to reach his rifle, but the net kept clinging, hampering his movements. Between them, they managed to cut through enough of the net to provide an escape route for the soldiers. Without waiting to see how the soldiers would react, they moved forward again, Hakuryu chirping impatiently and tugging on his arm.

Suddenly, through the drifting bands of fog, Hakkai caught a flash of long, white robes. Weaving his way through the fray, Hakkai sped up. He could sense Yaone at his side, her determination and anger fueling his own.

A sharp claw hooked itself inside the back of his collar, catching him off guard. Choking, Hakkai tried to spin in place to face the new threat, but he suddenly found himself being thrown to the side, Yaone's arm wrapped around his chest as they landed in the squelching muck. The claw was still digging into the back of his neck, but it no longer seemed to be attached to anything. Over his shoulder, he could see a small white blur change shape and drop heavily on the advancing spider. It connected with a sickening crunch as rugged tires rolled over twisted legs.

Pinned in place, the spider hissed, its eyes flickering as it shoved itself forward relentlessly, its back legs still responding. The jeep's headlights flickered in panic as it revved its engine. Hakkai took a deep breath and felt a warm burst of chi well up inside him. Channeling it down his arm, he fired off a blast aimed at the spider's head. The jeep vanished as Hakuryu flew off just before the blast connected. When the spider twitched again, Hakkai fired off a second blast, aimed at the trembling abdomen. Finally, it stilled, its eyes glazing over and gelatinous ooze seeping out to mix with the churned mud.

With a high-pitched kyuuu, Hakuryu landed on his shoulder and nuzzled the hair on the back of his neck. The sounds of terrified screams and erratic gunfire slid back into focus, muting the fleeting sense of triumph. "Thanks, Hakuryu," Hakkai murmured grimly as Yaone yanked the claw out of his collar and pulled herself to her feet, spear held at the ready. Hakkai followed suit and glanced around for Sanzo.

The vague, dark seething mass had resolved itself into a menacing tangle of thrashing black limbs. Tapping Yaone on the shoulder, he rushed toward it once again, dodging nets, the destroyed remains of tents, and gunshots. Yaone followed, this time taking up a defensive position. He hadn't caught sight of the priest, but Sanzo was bound to be in the thick of things.

When they finally managed to beat a path through the dense wall of spiders, they found a grim Sanzo wedged between two mutilated, lifeless spiders. He seemed to be using them as cover, but thick, twisted gray strands had managed to wrap around his arms and were slowly but surely dragging him out. When he caught sight of Hakkai, his eyes narrowed and a particularly sharp jerk from one of the strands managed to pull him out so that his entire torso was exposed.

"Where the hell have you been!? Get over here and make yourself useful, dammit!" Blood dripped down the side of Sanzo's angular face, and his arms were shaking, but the grip on his pistol was firm and so were his eyes as they glared down at him.

Smiling tightly in relief, Hakkai summoned his chi and managed to fire a few key shots, severing the strands holding Sanzo in place."Sorry we're late," he called as he leapt forward to join the priest, sliding down into the crevice flanked by spider carcasses. Yaone and Hakuryu were working as a team to beat back the more aggressive spiders, and Sanzo was reloading, his hands deadly accurate even as they trembled with blood loss and exhaustion. Hakkai fired off a pattern of chi blasts designed to push back the hordes, but the spiders kept coming, and he could feel the edges of exhaustion gnawing at him. "Where's Gojyo?" he called over his shoulder, brow furrowing. He hadn't seen Goku or Gojyo since he'd woken up. It wasn't like them to miss out on the action, especially when Sanzo was involved.

"How the hell should I know!? I'm not the damn kappa's keeper." So Sanzo was worried too. Well, it wasn't like they didn't have their own problems. The priest fired off a few more shots, but the spiders were wickedly fast, so, even though every shot seemed to find a target, most only connected with a limb. The spiders were starting to cooperate, too, their bodies crushing together to form an armored wall, and Yaone and Hakuryu were being hard pressed, forced to fall back against the relentless tide of black. He couldn't even see any of the soldiers anymore, but, through the shifting fog, he thought he could make out several spiders advancing on the writhing nets.

"We need a plan," Hakkai called over his shoulder, his voice calm but tight.

When he received no response, he risked a glance over at Sanzo. The priest was leaning heavily against one of the corpses, his fingers pressed into a familiar pattern and his lips moving steadily. Hakkai couldn't hear the chant over the sounds of conflict raging all around them, but he didn't have to. The scripture around Sanzo's neck was starting to flutter at the edges. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hakkai turned back to the battle at hand, his eyes automatically searching out Yaone. It was reassuring, knowing he could sense her presence. When he finally found her through the shifting curtain of fog, she appeared to be pinned down, but Hakuryu was hovering overhead, searching for an opening.

Firing off a chi blast in her direction, he managed to wound the spider that had seized her spear arm. Raising his hands for a second shot, he caught sight of a flicker of white in his peripheral vision just before thick, twisted strands dropped in place from overhead, stinging as they clung to his face and pinned him down, turning their defensive bunker into a prison. Twisting around, he could see that Sanzo had been pinned under the same net. The priest was still chanting, unmoved by the chaos surrounding him. An aura was beginning to glow around him as he built and focused power.

Firing off chi blasts now would be suicide, and Sanzo was too vulnerable right now to protect himself, with all his energy focused on one task. That only left one option. Defense. Conjuring up his chi, Hakkai constructed a barrier large enough to cover both of them. It began to spark and waver almost immediately as the spiders started crawling over it, their fangs and claws disturbingly close as they made inroads, weakening the defensive barrier.

The protective dome would hold, though. Hakkai could feel prickles of energy crackling behind him. He could do this. Sanzo had to be getting close now. Even through his exhaustion, his eyes flickered over the chaos surging all around them, seeking out Yaone. He had to know that she was safe. He could sense her presence, but that wasn't the same as seeing her. When one of the spiders clawing at the barrier suddenly convulsed, a sharp metal point showing through its abdomen as it slid down off the barrier, he finally caught sight of her. Her hair was clinging to her back and arms, and a long diagonal slash starting at one shoulder grazed the edge of her hip, but her body was coiled and ready to spring. His heart sped up.

The sharp crack of a rifle firing at close range was followed by the slow crumpling of Yaone's taut form. As she slid down the pile, Hakkai felt his whole body freeze. "Yaone!" he screamed, his focus broken, as he tried desperately to claw his way over to her. He barely registered the claws digging into him and the blood running down his hands as he tore at the confining strands. A second Yaone had appeared, a cruel smile twisting her face. The clone leaned heavily on the booted foot planted squarely in Yaone's midsection and leveled a rifle at her head. Yaone's face was pale and her shuddering breaths were coming in pained gasps. No! His mind reeled in distressed anguish. He couldn't lose her. Not now! Anger boiled deep within him, tingeing the world around him with a vivid reddish glow.

A strong arm materialized around his neck and a hoarse voice hissed in his ear. "Hakkai! Hakkai!! Focus, dammit! You're going to get us both killed."

But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered. He had to save Yaone. He couldn't watch her die. He couldn't. Fighting against the sticky mesh, he cursed his powerlessness and lashed out at the corpse hemming him in. The impostor had bent forward to speak to Yaone, rifle nudging her pale throat. He couldn't hear what was said, but, suddenly, a red-streaked Hakuryu swooped down like an avenging angel, seized a mouthful of the clone's hair, and yanked, hard. The momentary diversion allowed a wincing Yaone to knock the clone off balance and roll over, clutching her side.

The impostor shrieked, fury rolling off her in waves. When she raised the rifle to her shoulder, Hakuryu kyuued in protest and dropped the hair to flap desperate wings in her face, preventing her from getting a clear shot as she fired off the first round. Pausing to seize Hakuryu's madly swishing tail, the clone hurled the dragon against the nearest tree. Hakuryu's limp body landed with a soft whump just as Yaone wrenched the rifle out of the clone's grasp. She was clutching her side and bleeding heavily, but the world had sped up again, and Hakkai could feel Sanzo slumped heavily against him.

"I'll never lose to an impostor," Yaone announced, voice dripping with cold anger. Deliberately emptying the rifle's ammunition into the ground, she glared at the clone's scratched face. "You didn't _need_ this to win, did you?" Twin sets of nails shot out to form long, vicious stilettos. Yaone's face twisted into a grim smile. "I thought not."

Shit! Torn, Hakkai wavered for another agonizing second before turning, his hands still wound in the mesh overhead, to face Sanzo. Curved black claws were sunk deep in his shoulders, and the spiders seemed to be attempting to drag him upward through the net. Sanzo was bleeding heavily from both shoulders, and his eyes were squeezed shut. Furious, Hakkai ripped his hands free, blood flowing freely as he focused a clumsy ball of chi and fired it upward. It managed to miss Sanzo, but only barely. The spider shuddered but managed to dodge the worst of it. Hands flying forward, Hakkai tore the claws away from Sanzo's shoulders and reinstated the barrier. It was thinner than it had been, and it flickered fitfully, but it held. Yaone's presence still lurked in the back of his head, and he forced himself to trust her, trust in her strength. If Sanzo couldn't pull this off, they were all dead, and Sanzo needed him more now.

"Sanzo!" he shouted, his voice rough and unsteady. He knew he was unraveling. He knew that. But he was damned if he was going to let an army of clones get the better of them. "Sanzo!!"

Sanzo's eyes flew open. "Gojyo?" he whispered.

"Sanzo, the sutra! Quickly!"

"Ah!" The vague, vulnerable glassiness in his eyes evaporated, his face falling and then hardening. Grunting, he blinked, and, after several failed attempts, managed to slide his fingers back into position and resume the chant. The sutra flared to life immediately, glowing and fluttering. Distantly, Hakkai felt relieved, taking this as a sign that the sutra could retain stored power even when the chant was interrupted.

It didn't matter, though. He was determined to hold out till the end. Closing his eyes and leaning back against the corpse behind him, he felt Yaone's warm, reassuring presence wash over him.

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Sanzo could feel himself slipping, struggling to remember the next sequence in the chant. Eliminating this many opponents without causing any collateral damage took immense power and concentration, and, right now, Sanzo wasn't entirely sure he could manage lighting a cigarette, much less digging one out of his pocket. The crackle of power from the sutra resting on his shoulders was very nearly painful now. He must be close, very close.

Dully, he started the final sequence, feeling the last of his reserves drain away with each syllable. "On, ma, ni, ha, tsu, mei, un." The furious whistling and rustling of paper around him very nearly drowned out the exhausted rush of "Makai Tenjyo!" that tore itself free in one hoarse breath.

The flash of light was blinding, even with his eyes shut, but he couldn't manage to summon up the energy to shield them. Everything ached, leaving behind a vast, terrible emptiness. As he crumpled, head crooked at an uncomfortable angle, he had the vague thought that this must be what it felt like to be a marionette whose strings had been cut. It was ... frightening to let go, but, also, somehow liberating. Distantly, through the muddled haze, he thought he could make out the faint echo of a familiar voice calling his name.

"... ryuu, _Kouryuu,_ wake up. You'll catch a cold if you fall asleep out here." When he blinked his itching eyes open, he caught sight of long, soft blond bangs framing a gentle, smiling face.

"Hai, sensei," he whispered, registering the familiar bright-red chakra. For some reason, his throat was sore, and that irritated him. But the warmth of the hand resting on his forehead was soothing, so he was content to bask in the comforting presence, saying nothing.

When the smiling eyes turned to face the setting sun, he felt a vague, unsettling stab of panic. "Don't leave, sensei," he wanted to say, but that sounded childish, so, instead, he watched his sensei's profile, admiring the loose weave of the braid trailing down to brush the rough wooden planks.

"You've done well, Kouryuu. You have a home of your own now." A wispy stream of smoke drifted away from the shallow bowl of the long, thin pipe.

Sanzo watched the smoke for a while, mesmerized. Then he frowned, irritated. He hated cryptic comments. Finally, goaded, he rolled over until he was perched next to his sensei, bare feet dangling over the edge of the temple's rough wooden porch. When his pointed glare failed to produce results, he scowled at the vivid streaks of color hovering on the horizon. "Humph."

A gentle hand landed on his shoulder. "I'm afraid I have to go now." Sanzo started, the peacefulness of the moment shattered as another curl of panic clutched at his chest. "Don't stay out too late."

"I'll go with you!" he gasped, springing to his feet.

Koumyou-sensei's smile was wistful as he rose. "No, no I don't think so. Not yet, Kouryuu," he murmured, reaching down to ruffle Sanzo's unruly hair. "Someday, but not today."

"Sensei!" Sanzo called, stricken and angry. Why? Why was sensei leaving him behind? A vast chasm of emptiness welled up in his chest as he stood, blinking in frustration and disbelief, on the edge of the porch. The calm, gentle sway of the long, loose braid shone like a beacon in the setting sun. He clenched his fists, feeling the sting of dampness gathering at the edges of his stupid long lashes, but he refused to blink, staring after the golden pendulum until it disappeared from view, obscured by the deep shadows of the twilit trees.

Collapsing in a frustrated heap on the porch, he leaned against a support pillar and frowned, determined not to move until his sensei returned. The riot of sunset was quickly fading into deeper, subtler shades as the stars began to flicker overhead. His eyes fixed on the smug sliver of moon that appeared above the horizon. For some reason, every time he looked away, his eyes always ended up being drawn back to its wicked curve. There was something maddeningly familiar about it. Gradually, he found himself staring at the moon instead. The brilliant white crescent winked at him, and he frowned at it, sure it was mocking him somehow. It aggravated him, so he glared back at it, determined not to back down. He'd hear his sensei returning, after all. For now, he'd keep an eye on the mischievous moon. Who knew what it might get up to on its own?


	19. Chapter 19

Feet propped up on the desk in front of him, Ni leaned back in his swivel chair and grinned at the screen. Chaining combos was becoming easier as he hemmed in his opponents, surrounding and overwhelming them. They were still holding out fairly well, especially after they brought in their little white transformer, but he had an ace up his sleeve. Leaving the spiders locked in a default attack pattern, he used his new weapon to injure and pin down its natural counterpart. Smirking, he watched as his opponents fell into disarray. Ahhh, live-action games were the best. Real horror and despair were exquisite, impossible to imitate.

The ping of the microwave in the background caused Ni to look up. "Oh-to!" Turning his head, he called over his shoulder, "Popcorn's done, Hwan-chan!" His fingers flew as he responded to a desperate counter-attack. "Hwan-chan!" When there was no response, he turned his head. "Ahhh, so." He'd forgotten about that. Glancing down, he frowned at the controller. "Mmm, no pause button. What a shame. Ah, well. We can't have cold popcorn, now can we, Bunny-chan?" He dropped the controller in the bunny's lap as he scooted backward in the chair and over toward the flashing microwave.

When he returned to the screen, hand rustling in the warm bag of buttered popcorn nestled in his lap, he tutted and shook his head. "Awww, see what happens when you don't pay attention, Bunny-chan?" The screen was flashing "Game Over" in large, cheerful letters as the end song, a bubblegum-pop tune that'd come with a dating sim, played in the background. "Mmmm, minion count zero," he read off the screen. "Well, they were getting boring anyway." Shrugging, he scratched the bunny's ears absentmindedly. "I'm impressed, Sanzo-kun. So hurry up and come visit already."

Muttering to himself as he tried to remember the combination of keys required to initiate instant replay, he heard the door swish open in the background. An irate Koushu swept into the room. "Your little toy soldier broke, Ni, and now even my own daughter has abandoned me!"

"Mmm. Is the rifle still intact?" Ni asked, scratching his head and continuing his inspection of the modified game controller. Maybe he should have written the combination down.

Koushu scowled and dropped a twisted mass of metal on the floor with a clang. "Ahhh, pity, that." Ni glanced over and scratched at his stubble. He'd liked that toy. Of course, he could always make a better one, if he really wanted to.

An angry hiss from Koushu redirected his attention. Propping his chin on one hand, he grinned lazily up at her. "I had hoped Kou-chan would have trouble destroying a mirror-image of his Doku-chan, but I suppose loyalty counts for nothing these days." In a way, it was just as well. Pet spiders that size were cliché, anyway.

"What are we going to do now!?" Koushu demanded, her face flushed as she strode forward. Seizing his collar, she glared down at him, bosom heaving with repressed fury.

"Wait," Ni answered, unperturbed. He was rather enjoying the view, actually, and thinking that homicidal rage was truly underrated these days.

"Wait!?" Koushu's anger flared up, causing her nails to extend.

"Yes, well, a dutiful son like our Kou-chan can't stay away from his mother's side forever, now can he?" Realization dawned on Koushu's face, and she loosened her grip. "Exactly." He grinned and held out the bag of popcorn. "Want some? It's hot."

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Shakujou out and swinging at his side, Gojyo raced back toward the military camp. Goku was a step or two ahead. Where the hell did the little runt store all his excess energy, anyway!? Panting heavily, Gojyo forced himself not to speed up, to focus instead on not slipping on the treacherous terrain. He'd be no use to Sanzo, or anyone else, if he broke his leg again. Clenching his fists, he dodged past another tree, damp hair clinging to the back of his neck.

The thickening fog made it damn near impossible to see anything until he was right on top of it, so he was unprepared for the solid, flailing weight that collided heavily with him as he narrowly avoided yet another tree. Landing flat on his back in the muck, wind knocked out of him, Gojyo scowled heavily and slung a restraining arm around the pinwheeling limbs. "What the hell are you playing at, you stupid chimp!?" he growled, suppressed panic churning in his gut.

"Nnn! Lemme go! Leggo, I say!" A particularly energetic maneuver broke his hold on the struggling monkey, who promptly leapt to his feet and dashed forward, only to spring backward yet again. Gojyo managed to roll out of the way in time. A bristling Goku sputtered and slid in the mud, nyoi-bou still clutched in his determined little fist. The monkey's confused frustration might've been funnier if Gojyo himself hadn't been strung tighter than a piano wire.

When Goku sprang up and hopped forward again, Gojyo surged to his feet and snagged the brat's collar. "Easy there, runt," he grunted, suppressing his own feelings of desperation. "Sometimes brute force ain't the answer."

Goku frowned suspiciously up at him, impatient and confused, but he stayed put as Gojyo stalked cautiously forward, shakujou held out in front of him. He met with resistance within a few steps, but the barrier wasn't what he'd been expecting. It didn't appear to be a mental or magical barrier. It even seemed to flex a bit when he poked at it with his weapon. What the hell!? Frustrated concern welled up within him. Tossing his shakujou out of the way, he felt blindly forward until his hands made contact with familiar thick, sticky strands. They stung as they clung to him. "Dammit!"

"What're ya wait'n' for, ya overgrown cockroach!?" Goku shoved past him and promptly came to a halt. "Oh!" The monkey sounded surprised, then angry. "I hate this stuff! It tastes terrible!"

"Yeah, well, Sanzo's on the other side of it, so make yourself useful." He dragged the chimp backward and lifted his shakujou. Swinging the blade out behind him in a vicious arc, he snapped it forward with all his strength. He could feel it make contact, the strands flexing and resisting before severing in a series of reluctant bursts. When the blade returned to fall heavily at his feet, his arms were numb. Goku, recognizing the opening for what it was, dashed forward, nyoi-bou tucked close to his body as he rammed headlong into the barrier. Gojyo could just make out the runt's determined outline as the monkey passed through the tattered, clinging edges of the ragged hole they'd made in the net.

Ducking his head to follow, one long leg already on the other side, Gojyo found himself thrown backward once again as a blinding flash of light and energy rippled outward, tossing everything in its path aside. His last thought, before everything went dark, was that his boyfriend had terrible timing.

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When Gojyo finally managed to stumble into the military camp, the weird throbbing, panicky feeling had faded, leaving him feeling drained and muddled. The fog, too, had evaporated, pitilessly laying bare the wreckage of the camp. It was like wandering through the aftermath of a natural disaster: damage everywhere but no sign of the perpetrators anywhere. Nevertheless, he clutched the pole of his shakujou as they picked their way past smashed tents, scattered supplies, and shuddering piles of groaning soldiers. Medics in long, white coats could be seen venturing forth in huddled groups of twos and threes. Gojyo figured they could take care of their own. Right now, he just wanted to see his friends' faces and reassure himself that they were as indestructible as ever.

Goku had seemed subdued as well, his movements less sure, so, when he took off running, Gojyo followed without question. Eyes flitting from side to side, Gojyo finally spotted what the monkey was heading for: a flash of white lying crumpled on the remains of a crushed tent.

Panting, Gojyo sped up, and was surprised when he caught up to the runt right before they skidded to a stop in front of the priest. Bent over and clutching his knees, Gojyo stared down at the scene before him, his mind too jumbled to process much of anything beyond a vague feeling of relief at finally seeing his Sanzo again. The slow rise and fall of the priest's chest, black leather armor peaking out between torn and grimy robes, mesmerized him, soothing his tangled thoughts and his ragged breathing.

When he realized what he was doing, he felt his face heat. Tearing his gaze away, he noticed that Hakkai was lying in a sprawled heap next to Sanzo. Sliding his fingers through his hair, he smiled crookedly. The gratefulness that welled up inside him was tinged with a curl of frustrated self-recrimination. He should have been here too. Shaking his head, he forced himself to focus. After a brief survey, he came to the conclusion that, although they both looked a bit worse for wear, they just needed to be patched up and they'd be fine.

Goku was frowning next to him, eyes fixed on Sanzo's blood-stained face. "You're gonna fix 'im, right?"

Gojyo blinked, then dropped a hand to ruffle the brat's hair. "Yeah, no sweat." Goku backed away from his hand and stared up at him with clear, measuring eyes. What the ... The chimp seemed awfully serious all of a sudden. Gojyo shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm gonna need some bandages first. Why don't you see if you can rustle up a med kit, eh?"

"If I do, can I help?" Goku asked, his face set and his brow furrowed.

"We'll see. You do need practice, after all." Gojyo felt his smile growing. Sanzo might be a grouchy bastard sometimes, but, deep down, he'd be pleased that his monkey was trying to help.

"Okay!" Goku called, his eyes lighting up and a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth before he took off, short legs barely touching the ground as he sped out of sight. A monkey on a mission, eh? Gojyo huffed, setting aside his shakujou, and shook his head before bending down to see what he could do in the meantime.

Hakkai's hands were in terrible shape. There was no way he was driving for at least a week. Other than that, he seemed to be more or less okay. Sanzo's arms and shoulders were torn up, but the leather armor had mitigated the worst of the lacerations on his arms. The shoulders were more serious, but at least the bleeding had stopped. He'd be grumpy and tetchy till he regained full mobility, but, with any luck, that'd only take a week or two.

All in all, they were pretty lucky, really, Gojyo thought as he tried to make Sanzo more comfortable. Gently rolling the blond head to the side so it was lying at a more comfortable angle, he watched his hand linger, tracing contours. Brushing disordered, muddy fringe aside, he fingered the shallow gash above Sanzo's right temple. Leaning forward, he brushed awkward lips over the exposed forehead. When Sanzo grunted, Gojyo pulled back, face flushed, but Sanzo just muttered something about the moon and frowned briefly before sliding back into unconsciousness.

Sitting back on his legs, Gojyo brushed hair out of his own face and told himself he was an idiot. He'd been half afraid that making any progress with Sanzo at all would lead to a dead end, leaving him cold and Sanzo bitter, but ... it hadn't. Instead of feeling indifferent, he'd felt even more desperate, and Sanzo hadn't pushed him away, not really, but then he'd gone and annoyed the piss out of his boyfriend.

And now, for all he knew, Sanzo might wake up and tell him to piss off, now that he'd finally realized just how much he'd lose if he fucked this up. Feeling that strange rush of certainty back in the village, knowing that Sanzo was in trouble, had blindsided him completely. And now, greedy bastard that he was, he was pretty sure he couldn't settle for anything less than everything.

Rubbing at his forehead, Gojyo grimaced. It wasn't like him, to get cold feet like this. Smiling crookedly at Sanzo, he jabbed an accusing finger at the sleeping figure. "I'm not afraid of you, you know." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. God, he was such an idiot.

By the time he'd lit a cigarette, his face had finally cooled off a bit, so he turned to see if there was anything he could do for Hakkai. Grunting as he slid a thick tent pole out from under his friend's back, he was startled when a torn and bloody hand landed heavily on his arm.

He fell backward onto his ass, the stupid tent pole rolling forward over his toes. "Aaaah! Shit, man! Give a guy some warning first!"

"Where's Yaone?" Hakkai's voice was weak, but determined.

"Uhhh," Gojyo frowned and quickly scanned the area. "Over there?" He pointed to the base of a particularly thick tree trunk. Yaone was slumped against the tree, her eyes closed, one hand pressed against her bloody hip and the other clutching her spear. A bedraggled Hakuryu was perched, wings drooping, on her shoulder.

"Thank you," Hakkai whispered, rolling over onto his side and crawling toward the trunk of the tree.

"Oi! Hakkai! Take it easy, man!" Gojyo stared, stunned, at his friend's swaying back. When Hakkai lurched to a stop, resting his forehead against the tree trunk, Gojyo finally managed to stumble to his feet. He should help, at least.

Before he could reach them, though, Hakkai's midsection was already bathed in the halo of the warm, yellow glow of chi. "Dammit, Hakkai!" Gojyo yelled, dashing forward. "You trying to kill yourself!?"

Reaching forward to grab Hakkai's arm and drag him away, he ended up catching him instead as his friend collapsed backward. "Stupid!" Gojyo's fingers dug into Hakkai's unresisting shoulders. "What the hell was that!?" Sighing, he blew hair out of his face and grimaced. "Okay, fine. I'm just jealous over here." Yaone's wound had closed, and her face looked almost peaceful now, a small smile replacing the pained grimace from before.

Glancing back the way they'd come, he thunked his head against the tree trunk. "I guess this makes me the pack mule, doesn't it?" He sighed and hefted his friend into his arms with a grunt. "Where the hell is the runt, anyway!?" he groused. "Just how long does it _take_ to find a med kit?" Gojyo scowled and contemplated going to find one himself.

But, after he'd carried Hakkai and Yaone back to the tent and laid them out flat, he wasn't sure he had the energy for it. Sinking down against a nearby tree, he leaned his shakujou against his shoulder and yawned.

He was just thinking that he could really use a nap and a snack when Goku bounded back into view, laden down with several bulky packages. "Please let one of them be a med kit," he thought.

"Ta-daaah!" The grinning monkey dropped his burdens unceremoniously at Gojyo's feet. "I was tryin' to get a med kit, like you said, but they wouldn't let me have one, and then Nu showed up an' he said I could have one, but he said I needed some water too, and then my stomach growled an' I thought I should bring some food, too, so I did!"

Gojyo poked the monkey in the ribs. "So that's why you're late, ya scruffy chimp! I shoulda known you'd think with your stomach!" Gathering up the med kit, and ignoring the piteous growling of his stomach as he passed the sack of meat buns, he marched over to the line of wounded, Goku in tow.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo

Sanzo groaned and shifted uncomfortably. He must have fallen asleep on the porch again. Murmuring voices were rumbling all around him, but, for some reason, he felt safe, relaxed. Maybe Koumyou-sensei had already returned, and the temple's monks had come out to greet him. In any case, Sanzo thought he might as well get up now before one of the more self-righteous monks dragged him to his feet and started lecturing him about the evils of sloth. Reluctantly, he rolled onto his side and froze. "Owww! Shit! Dammit that hurts!!" His whole arm felt like it was on fire, especially his shoulder.

"Well, then stay put!" Familiar hands rolled him over onto his back again. _Gojyo?!_ Sanzo's heart sped up. Wait. What was ... Oh. Relief, embarrassment, and irritation flooded through him in quick succession.

"Don't tell me what to do, you half-baked croissant," Sanzo grunted, forcing his hands to unclench. When he opened his eyes to glare up at the bane of his existence, bright sunlight forced him to squint and raise an arm to shield his eyes. Distantly, he registered that his arm was missing its leather armband, and, in its place, there was a long trail of inexpertly wrapped gauze.

"Well, that's a new one," Gojyo admitted, his face twisted into a sloppy, uncertain smile. Raising his voice, he called, "Goku, make sure you follow the contours of his hand. You got that?" He didn't turn his head, but his eyes kept sliding away from Sanzo's.

Sanzo shifted uncomfortably, scowled, and turned his head. The bandages on his right shoulder weren't nearly as sloppy as the ones on his arm. Eyes lifting to glance out past the muddy red fringe of Gojyo's hair, Sanzo caught sight of Goku leaning over a prone Hakkai.

"I've got the hang of it, already, ya bossy—What do I do if I dropped it?" Sanzo closed his eyes. They were idiots, but they were his idiots.

"You cut the dirty bits off," Gojyo barked, "tape down the stuff you've already wrapped, and start again! And next time don't be so clumsy." Hakkai was laughing weakly in the background and reassuring Goku that he didn't mind in the least.

"Hey, Sunshine, you thirsty?" When Sanzo opened his eyes again, Gojyo was shaking a half-empty water bottle in his face. It irritated him that Gojyo still looked off-balance and wasn't quite meeting his eyes. What the hell was going on, dammit!? Assaulted by a sudden stab of concern, Sanzo's piercing gaze raked over what he could see of the man hunched next to him, but the bastard didn't _look_ especially damaged.

Gojyo did, however, shoot him a strange, searching look. When Sanzo frowned up at him, eyes demanding an explanation, the bastard just slid a hand through his hair and glanced away, over his shoulder. Frowning, Sanzo grabbed the water bottle, despite the stinging protests of his arms and shoulders, and grimly twisted it open. It was irritating the way his hands were shaking, but he managed to get in a couple of long swallows without spilling too much down the side of his neck.

"Those were some pretty fancy fireworks you broke out earlier," Gojyo commented, the lightness of his tone sounding forced. Sanzo glared over at him. The kappa's chin was resting on bent knees, and his eyes were fixed on the thin trail of smoke drifting away from the cigarette dangling in his hand. It was shaking. Right. Sanzo had had just about enough of this.

"Cut the crap, dammit!" Clumsily screwing the cap back on the water bottle, Sanzo forced himself upright, crossing his legs and hunching forward, letting his arms hang in his lap.

"Excuse me!?" Gojyo's head whipped around to face him, a flash of irritation showing in his distinctive, crinkled red eyes. Sanzo felt a rush of satisfaction. That was more like it.

"What've you gone and done this time!?" he demanded, sure the kappa was keeping something from him. The bastard was doing a miserable job of hiding it, so he might as well confess and have done.

"What the—!? I haven't done anything, you stupid bastard!" The indignation was genuine, but it was unstable, slipping in and out of focus.

Sanzo leaned closer, reaching out to seize a dangling red antenna. "Then why won't you look at me when I'm talking to you!?" he growled, eyes narrowed dangerously. The kappa had better not have found someone else already.

Gojyo's righteous indignation evaporated, leaving him frowning distractedly at Sanzo's clenched hand. "I ... I just thought you might be mad at me," he mumbled.

"Well I am now, moron!" Sanzo seethed.

"Look here, you unmitigated—OW!" Gojyo's hand rose to clutch the back of his neck as his head whipped around to glare at Goku. "What the hell was _that_ for!? _He_ started it!"

The monkey was wearing a feral grin and tossing a second meat bun consideringly in one hand. Sanzo tugged impatiently on the lock of hair in his hand. He wanted Gojyo to look at him, not the runt!

"Now, now, Sanzo-san. Play nice with your boyfriend." Sanzo's head rose sharply to scowl over at Hakkai. He and Yaone had managed to prop themselves up against a nearby tree, and Yaone was calmly rewrapping his bandages. Hakkai should learn to mind his own business and stop poking his nose in where it wasn't wanted.

"Wait, no! How!?" Gojyo sputtered helplessly. Sanzo transferred his glare to the distraught redhead. What now!?

"They're dating now? Ew! I thought they were actin' weird." Goku's voice filtered through, and Sanzo froze, paralyzed. _Dating!?_ The word echoed oddly as it tumbled through his scattered wits. When ... ? He could feel all the blood draining out of his face. Hakkai knew. Goku knew. Who the hell _else_ knew!?

"You TOLD people!?" He was going to _kill_ Gojyo!

"I did NOT! Sha Gojyo does not kiss and tell!" Gojyo's eyes were fierce and staring right back at him.

That's when Sanzo snapped, the veins in his forehead throbbing. All his darkest, weakest, stupidest fears and insecurities escaped in a wild tumble of uncontrollable words. "I knew it!" he snarled, forehead suddenly pressed up against the kappa's. "You were with that redhead, weren't you!? _That's_ why you were gone so long!" And he'd been worried sick, dammit!

"Witchy Li!? As if! I wouldn't screw her for all the booze in Shangri-La!" Gojyo looked genuinely angry now, his eyes blazing.

"Well, thank goodness for that," a woman's voice cut in from behind them. Sanzo ignored her.

"Well what about Newbie, then!?" he demanded. "Did you screw him?" He felt distant, detached from his own body, helpless to stop the flood of words. This had damn well better be a dream. Please, please let it be a dream.

"What the _hell!?_ I love _you,_ you stupid, paranoid bastard!" Gojyo took a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes. "You got that!? I haven't touched anyone else in months!"

Sanzo blinked several times in rapid succession and thought that this was by far the stupidest dream he'd ever had. But, apparently, it wasn't over yet, because Gojyo had started in again, eyes open wide and fixed directly on his. "Sanzo, listen, I ... I just felt bad for not being here when the shit hit the fan. It ... it took longer than I thought it would to wipe out the damn spiders in the village, and ... And I was worried about you, dammit!"

Sanzo stared into vivid red depths and felt the ringing in his ears start to subside. Shit. This wasn't a dream, was it? His ears started to burn.

"Is this really the legendary Priest Genjyo Sanzo?"

Sanzo seized on the lifeline, whipping his head around to glare at the old man peering down at him. "What the hell do _you_ want!?"

The geezer was flanked on either side by a soldier: the redheaded chick on the right, and Newbie on the left. Sanzo's fists clenched. Brilliant. A couple of kids were standing off to the side, fidgeting. They looked familiar for some reason. The shorter one giggled. "Yup! He's the one who saved us!" Oh, right. The brats from the caves. The taller kid kept staring at him, for some reason, but the smaller one waved at Gojyo, who waved back.

"I see." The man knelt, hands splayed, and touched his forehead to the ground. "Then, on behalf of my family and my village, I would like to convey our deepest gratitude. You saved us from the evil youkai that have plagued our humble village, banishing them from our world with the force of your holy scripture, and, though we know we are unworthy, we would like the opportunity to honor you and your ... holy companions."

Gojyo snorted, and Sanzo scowled. "Forget it. We're busy."

The man's head rose sharply, a distressed frown forming. "But ..."

"Ah, I'm sorry if Sanzo was abrupt," Hakkai cut in. "You see, we're on a mission from the gods, and we're in a bit of a hurry."

"Well, I suppose that's that, then," the redheaded soldier cut in. "Now about the iron ore," she continued, subtly helping the old man to his feet, "we're currently behind schedule, but, with the youkai gone, I think we can come to an understanding." Her firm hand landed on the man's back and skillfully steered him off to the right. "Let's go have a chat with Captain Tenjo and see what we can work out." As she led him away from the group, the kids reluctantly trailed after them.

Nu, however, remained behind, leaning against a tree. He grinned lopsidedly at them and said, "I like you guys, I really do, but you trouble follows you around like a rampaging tidal wave, and I'm not sure we can afford to get caught up in it again."

"No worries, man," Gojyo chimed in. "I'm not too keen on this place, anyway. We'll be glad to put this hellhole behind us." He held his hand up with a grin. "No offense."

"None taken." Nu's smile turned wry. "If you follow the cart tracks north," he gestured off to the left, "you should hit the main road long before it gets dark."

Sanzo grunted and levered himself to his feet, only swaying slightly. The sooner they got out of here, the better, as far as he was concerned. Gojyo shook hands with Nu while Yaone and Hakkai were helping each other to their feet, and, in relatively short order, they were all making their way toward the iron ore carts located on the northern edge of the military camp. Hakkai and Yaone were leading the group; Goku was next, munching on a meat bun; and Sanzo and Gojyo somehow ended up bringing up the rear.

As soon as Nu was out of earshot, Gojyo grinned slyly over at him. "Hey, you were all jealous back there, weren't you? Does that mean you like me too?" Sanzo casually swung a foot out into the lumbering fool's path. "OW!" It was immensely satisfying to watch the waving red antennae connect with the underbrush. Unfortunately, it didn't shut him up for long. Gojyo scrambled to his feet and jogged a couple of steps to catch up. "That was low, you repressed bastard!" he hissed, but he was still smiling, the idiot.

"Are you sure they're dating?" Goku asked between bites, his wide brown eyes turned toward Hakkai.

"Oh, yes," Hakkai replied confidently. Sanzo scowled. Well, at least _someone_ knew what was going on.

"Then how come they're still fighting?"

"Why indeed?" Hakkai murmured, amused. "Some people just can't seem to help it, can they?" Sanzo contemplated leaving them all behind and walking the rest of the way to Houtou Castle by himself.

Yaone came to an abrupt halt in front of him, forcing Sanzo to stop as well. Stupid bloody woman. He just wanted to put as much distance between himself and this vile forest as possible, so of course she had to hold things up!

"Lord Kougaiji!" She tried to sink into a deep bow, but ended up falling forward instead, forcing Hakkai to catch her. Didn't she even know her own limits? And what the hell was Kougaiji doing here!?

Kougaiji hopped down off a long-distance dragon. Sanzo's eyes flicked between the bedraggled white dragon perched on Hakkai's shoulder and the sleek black dragon hovering coolly in front of them. He shook his head. Well, it would be faster, but he doubted Kougaiji would lend it to them willingly. And he actually trusted Hakuryu, which was more than he could say for its larger cousin.

"Yaaaoooneee!" Apparently, Lirin had been traveling with her brother, because the little brat jumped down off the same dragon. Taking a running leap, she flung herself at the unsteady Yaone, who managed to throw her arms around the child and keep from being bowled over. Sanzo was forced to admire her sense of balance after all.

"Yaone, are you all right?" Kougaiji offered her a hand up, his eyes flicking over Hakkai with a frown.

"I'm fine, my lord." Was she crying!? Dammit, why did he have to stand around and witness this? "Thank goodness you're both safe! I ... we eliminated the clones, so ..." Her eyes slid over to meet Hakkai's.

"Never mind that!" Kougaiji cut in. "Here," he shoved a handful of metal at her, "get the blasted handcuffs off, would you? I couldn't get anywhere with these." He looked harried but relieved. Apparently, things hadn't been smooth sailing for him, either.

"Of course, my lord," Yaone murmured. The handcuffs fell off in a matter of seconds, causing Kougaiji to wince and Lirin to bounce forward again, this time succeeding in knocking Yaone over.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Yaone! I just ... I'm just so glad to see you again! We're all together again, nyah, an' Onii-chan's mom is free!" Kougaiji frowned and lifted his sister by her collar, then set her down next to Yaone. Hakkai offered a bandaged hand, but Yaone managed to regain her feet without assistance. "But now my mom's really mad," Lirin continued, her enthusiasm deflating, "an' we can't go visit Onii-chan's mom till we settle things."

Yaone turned to face Hakkai, tears still glistening on her cheeks. His face had fallen back into its stoic mask, but his eyes looked sad. "I have to go now," she said. Hakkai nodded silently. "But I'll be back when all this is over!" she promised, throwing herself at Hakkai and kissing him—right on the mouth!

"I know. I'll be waiting." Hakkai's arms rose to hold her close. Sanzo looked away. He'd really rather be anywhere else right now. What the hell was wrong with them? In public!?

It was over fairly quickly, though, and then it was just the four of them again, standing next to the carts. Hakuryu kyuued plaintively, long tail swishing. Hakkai reached up absently and petted the dragon.

"Well, that sucks." Gojyo slung an arm around Hakkai's shoulder.

"No, it's fine," Hakkai murmured. "She'll be back. I know she will. And now, I think it's time we were on our way as well."

Sanzo scowled and eyed the line of carts. With a grunt, he slung a leg over the edge of the nearest one and slid gracelessly into the bottom. Goku bounded over and grabbed the cart's handles, a fierce, competitive gleam in his eyes.

Gojyo smiled indulgently down at them—stupid prat with his extra height—before gesturing to the cart in front. "Come on, Hakkai. In you get."

"Why thank you, Gojyo-san." When Hakkai was comfortably settled, Sanzo had a terrible thought. Hakkai and Gojyo had taken the leading cart. He'd be staring at the damn kappa's ass until they got out of these cursed woods. Apparently, the same thing had occurred to the cockroach, because he turned to wave cheerfully and wink. Crossing his arms, Sanzo sank lower in his cart and lit a cigarette. Well, it could be worse. This way Gojyo would have no way of knowing whether Sanzo was looking or not.

A sack of meat buns landed unceremoniously in his lap. "Hold onto those for me, willya, Sanzo?" Trust the monkey to bring supplies. Sanzo was just contemplating pulling one out for himself when he noticed Gojyo leaning forward to whisper something in Hakkai's ear. They both started laughing shortly thereafter, and Sanzo decided he was better off not knowing.

Later, when they'd finally left the abominable trees behind, Sanzo had claimed his usual spot in the front of the jeep. Hakkai couldn't drive, of course, with his bandaged hands. Goku had begged to be allowed to have a turn at the wheel, but Gojyo had shot him down. After a brief scuffle, Gojyo had agreed to give Goku driving lessons later if they stayed in town long enough. That had seemed to pacify the monkey, who'd then climbed docilely into the back with Hakkai.

The drive itself was remarkably quiet, really. Gojyo was too busy driving and shooting covert glances his direction to provoke Goku, Hakkai was sleeping in the back seat, and Goku was contentedly munching on his sack of meat buns. It was ... peaceful. Sanzo even managed to fall asleep for part of it.

When they finally reached an inn, six hours later, Gojyo was ecstatic. "Oh, yeah, baby! I can't wait! A real shower! Please tell me they have showers!"

Goku was hungry again, of course, despite the fact that he'd eaten three-fourths of the confiscated meat buns by himself. And Hakkai was quiet, his face introspective. Sanzo just wanted to fall asleep on a real bed.

The innkeeper greeted them as they walked in the door, despite their undoubtedly disreputable appearance, and Sanzo was disposed to think well of her, especially if she could check them in quickly. But when she grinned at Gojyo and asked him if he wouldn't rather stay in her room, Sanzo's eyes narrowed and he almost contemplated leaving.

Gojyo leaned across the counter and grinned back at her. Sanzo clenched his fists. "Sorry, Sweetie. I'm taken." Gojyo pointed toward Sanzo, who scowled at both of them indiscriminately.

"Oh, he's taken all right. Go find your own." With an irritable grunt, Sanzo grabbed the collar of Gojyo's stupid, filthy tank top and dragged him toward the stairs.

"Ah ha ha. We'll take three rooms, please," Hakkai murmured in the background. Sanzo didn't slow down. Even if they couldn't get into a room yet, they might at least find a shower. He could hear the sound of keys rattling. "Thank you very much." Hakkai was polite to a fault, and Sanzo had finally found an open door. Shoving Gojyo through it ahead of him, he caught one last comment before banging the door shut behind him. "Goku, why don't you go check and see when dinner will be ready while I go see to the rooms?"

"There's only one shower," Gojyo announced, leaning lazily against the stall and smirking around the cigarette dangling from his lips.

"So?" Sanzo grunted, untying his sash. He was damned if he was going to let the kappa call all the shots.

* * *

A/N: Yup. That's the end. The rest is left up to your imagination. :) 

Umm, I really should thank some people here, so I will. First of all, I'm terribly grateful to Minekura-sensei for creating _Saiyuki _and drawing such incredibly hot bishies for us. I would also like to thank my husband for willingly acting as beta for bits that I was unsure about and my sister Robin for drawing me fanart. She said she wanted some Sanzo x Gojyo, so I wrote it for her. But, most of all, I want to thank everyone who's reviewed (including all you anonymous reviewers!). I definitely would not have finished this without your support and honest criticism. I really appreciate it.


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